THE  MEASURE 
OFAMAN 

Wlhm%Sheddrf%rsia 

A   BIOGRAPHY   BY 

MARY  LEWIS  SHEDD 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


-zr 


BV  3217  .S5  S5  1922 
Shedd,  Mary  Lewis. 
The  measure  of  a  man 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

MARY  LEWIS  SHEDD 


WILLIAM  AMBROSE  SHEDD 


THE 

MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

The  Life  of  William  Ambrose  Shedd 
Missionary  to  Persia 


MARY  LEWIS  SHEDD 


Witlfi  an  Introduction  By 
ROBERT  E.  SPEER 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  ^SP  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1922, 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN.     II 


PRINTED   IN   THE  UNITED  STATES   OF  AMERICA 


To  His  Mother 
SARAH  JANE  DAWES  SHEDD 


INTRODUCTION 

William  Shedd  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
best  men  I  have  ever  known.  These  are  direct 
and  simple  ad j  ectives  and  they  fit  his  direct  and 
simple  character.  He  was  an  able  man,  with 
a  clear,  fresh,  unconventional  mind,  familiar 
with  the  accustomed  modes  of  thought  and 
forms  of  expression  but  assured  that  there  was 
more  to  be  known  about  the  truth  of  God  than 
man  had  yet  apprehended  and  that  there  were 
ways  of  stating  the  truth  of  God  that  should 
be  found  and  that  would  be  more  adequate  and 
persuasive.  He  had  a  good  scholarly  equip- 
ment and  a  real  scholar's  instinct.  In  the  The- 
ological Seminary  at  Princeton  both  his  teach- 
ers and  his  fellow  students  recognized  his  un- 
usual capacity.  He  would  have  taken  first 
rank  in  any  one  of  several  lines  of  study  and 
research  if  he  had  turned  his  life  in  these  direc- 
tions. But  he  had  abilities  which  led  him  away 
from  scholarship  into  action-administrative  and 
executive  ability,  the  power  of  sympathy  and 
of  practical  action.  He  was  a  good  man  in 
this  sense,  that  he  would  not  give  his  life  to 

vii 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

the  satisfaction  of  intellectual  tastes  even  as  a 
teacher  or  defender  or  explorer  of  Christian 
doctrine  but  must  spend  himself  in  helping 
needy  and  destitute  people  and  in  carrying  the 
comfort  and  salvation  of  the  Gospel  to  those 
who  were  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd.  There 
were  other  senses  also  in  which  he  was  a  good 
man.  He  was  intellectually  and  morally  hon- 
est clean  through.  He  was  modest  and  self- 
forgetful  but  entirely  ready  to  face  responsi- 
bility and  to  exercise  leadership.  The  princi- 
ple of  justice  and  fair-mindedness  was  inwoven 
in  his  whole  character.  He  was  destitute  of 
any  fear  that  would  estop  him  from  duty.  He 
had  no  desire  but  to  know  and  to  do  what  is 
true.  He  knew  small-mindedness  and  malice 
and  hypocrisy  when  he  met  it  in  America  or 
Persia  but  he  was  endlessly  charitable  and 
kind-hearted  and  in  the  dark  days  of  the  war, 
without  concealing  his  judgments  or  palliating 
wrong,  he  still  worked  patiently  with  all  whose 
help  might  be  of  service  in  saving  the  people 
about  him,  Syrian  and  Persian  and  Kurd. 
And  tihere  was  not  one  of  them  who  did  not 
recognize  that  William  Shedd  was  an  able 
and  a  good  man. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  competent  and  suc- 
cessful missionaries  of  the  Church.    He  came 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

to  his  work  in  Persia  with  a  thorough  and  ade- 
quate preparation.  His  inheritance,  his  fam- 
ily background,  his  education,  his  character, 
his  knowledge  gave  him  a  unique  equipment. 
At  first  he  had  his  father  and  Dr.  Joseph  P. 
Cochran  as  his  older  associates  and,  after  his 
father's  death,  Dr.  Cochran,  and  later  Dr.  La- 
haree.  He  succeeded  all  of  these  in  the  confi- 
dence and  regard  of  the  people  of  Urumia  and 
to  them  all,  and  to  the  Persian  officials  and  to 
the  representatives  of  Russia  and  France  he 
was  the  incarnation  of  his  Mission  and  of 
America  and  of  the  spirit  of  love  and  justice. 
It  has  been  given  to  few  missionaries  to  win 
such  a  place  of  acknowledged  leadership 
among  the  people  to  whom  they  have  gone. 
The  whole  Assyrian  nation  came  to  regard  him 
as  its  counselor  and  guide.  What  Elijah  had 
been  to  Elisha  he  was  to  this  people,  "The 
chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof." 
The  problems  and  perplexities  with  which 
he  had  to  deal  were  enough  to  overtax  any 
man.  Nowhere  in  the  world  was  there  a  more 
entangled  and  impossible  situation  than  in 
Urumia  during  the  war.  The  tides  of  human 
movement  and  of  political  interest  were  so 
confused  that  no  human  being  caught  in  them 
could  escape  from  them.    As  a  missionary,  as 


r  INTRODUCTION 

American  Vice-Consul,  as  a  man,  as  a  Chris- 
tian, as  the  representative  of  righteousness  and 
truth  in  human  relationships.  Dr.  Shedd  had  a 
work  to  do  in  Urumia  in  teaching  men  brother- 
liness  and  goodwill,  in  protecting  the  van- 
quished from  their  victors  and  then  those  who 
had  been  victors  from  those  whom  they  had 
vanquished  and  who  were  now  victors  in  their 
turn,  in  exposing  and  preventing  treachery  of 
many  kinds,  in  defending  the  helpless,  in  for- 
warding the  cause  of  justice,  in  delivering  a 
nation  from  death,  which  no  other  man  could 
have  done  as  he  did  it.  The  burden  was  more 
than  any  life  could  bear  and  he  laid  his  life 
down  under  it.  But  it  was  a  glorious  way  to 
lay  one's  life  down.  I  do  not  know  of  any  man 
of  whom  the  words  which  Matthew  Arnold 
used  of  his  father  in  "Rugby  Chapel"  might 
be  more  truly  spoken. 


'But  thou  would'st  not  alone 
Be  saved,  our  brother,  alone 
Conquer  and  come  to  thy  goal, 
Leaving  the  rest  in  the  wild. 
They  were  weary,  and  they 
Fearful,  and  they  in  their  march 
Fain  to  drop  down  and  to  die. 
Still  thou  turnedst,  and  still 
Gavest  the  weary  thy  hand. 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

*If,  in  the  paths  of  the  world. 
Stones  might  have  wounded  thy  feet, 
Toil  or  dejection  have  tried 
Thy  spirit,  of  that  they  saw 
No  thing — ^to  them  thou  wast  still 
Cheerful^  and  helpful,  and  firm! 
Therefore  to  thee  it  was  given 
Many  to  save  with  thyself; 
And,  at  the  end  of  the  day, 
O   faithful  shepherd !  to  come, 
Bringing  thy  sheep  in  thy  hand." 


There,  are  still  other  lines  in  Arnold's  tribute 
to  his  father,  which  might  justly  be  applied  to 
William  Shedd,  true  missionary,  lover  of 
Christ  and  of  men,  good  shepherd  like  his 
Lord.  One  of  the  Syrian  people,  Professor 
Yohannan  of  Columbia  University,  who  knew 
and  loved  him,  has  himself  used  just  such 
speech  of  him  and  of  his  father.  "Dr.  Shedd," 
says  he,  "was  a  scholar,  and  thoroughly 
equipped  for  the  work  with  something  more 
Ihan  the  surface-teaching  of  the  ordinary  the- 
ological doctrines.  His  book,  'Islam  and  the 
Oriental  Churches,'  is  an  able  piece  of  work. 
He  laid,  however,  his  literary  ambition  and  all 
his  scientific  attainments  upon  the  altar  of 
God  from  whom  they  came,  counting  them  loss 
for  Christ.  .  .  .  He  did  not  work  for  stipend, 
or  honor,  or  the  praise  of  men,  but  was  im- 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

pelled  by  higher  motives  to  the  service  of  his 
Master.  He  was  the  champion  of  the  op- 
pressed, the  shepherd  of  a  gentle  and  hmnble 
spirit,  to  whom  the  poorest  of  his  flock  was 
not  too  poor.  His  greatest  joy  was  in  bring- 
ing a  stray  sheep  into  the  fold." 

But  it  is  not  necessary  in  these  few  words 
of  introduction  to  tell  the  story  of  William 
Shedd's  life  or  to  attempt  an  estimate  of  his 
character.  I  want  simply  to  bear  testimony 
to  what  I  knew.  For  nearly  thirty  years  as 
intimately  as  a  brother  I  knew  him,  his  pure 
heart,  his  peaceableness,  his  courage,  his  quiet 
power,  his  tenderness,  his  prudence,  his  free- 
dom, his  loyalty.  He  also  was  one  "who  never 
turned  his  back  but  marched  breast  forward," 
trusting  God.  The  years  are  freighted  with 
the  rich  memories  of  him  and  every  such  mem- 
ory is  dear. 

Robert  E.  Speer. 


PREFACE 

The  life  story  of  William  Ambrose  Shedd 
is  so  full  of  thrilling  interest  and  inspiration 
that  it  needs  to  be  written  in  permanent  form. 
The  task  has  devolved  upon  me,  to  whom  it  has 
been  a  labor  of  love.  No  other  incentive  could 
have  been  strong  enough  to  induce  me  to  live 
again  the  poignant  experiences  of  the  later 
years. 

I  have  not  attempted  to  write  the  history 
of  Urumia  Station  nor  of  the  war  in  Persia. 
Neither  have  I  tried,  in  any  adequate  way,  to 
tell  of  the  services  of  others.  There  is  much 
that  is  worth  the  telling  but  that  task  remains 
for  others. 

My  gratitude  is  due  the  friends  who  have 
read  the  manuscript;  to  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer 
for  his  chapter  of  introduction;  to  Professor 
Donald  B.  MacDonald,  who  has  contributed 
the  history  of  the  Urumia  Syriac  Concordance, 
and  to  Miss  Rachel  Capen  Schauffler,  who  by 
her  personal  interest  in  the  story  and  her  care- 
ful reading  of  the  manuscript,  has  encouraged 
and  helped  me  greatly. 

Mary  Lewis  Shedd. 

Philadelphia. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER  I:  A  GOODLY  HERITAGE  .        .       25 

Ancestry.  His  grandparents  missionaries  in 
Ohio.  His  parents^  Rev.  John  Haskell  Shedd 
and  Sarah  Jane  Dawes  Shedd,  missionaries 
to  Persia.  Urumia,  location  and  people.  The 
Old  Nestorian  Church.  Early  history  of 
Urumia  Mission.  Birth  of  William  Ambrose 
Shedd. 


CHAPTER   II:  EARLY  INFLUENCES  AND 

EDUCATION 38 

Return  of  the  family  to  America.  Life  in  the 
South  and  at  Marietta,  Ohio.  William  enters 
Marietta  College  at  fifteen.  A  visit  to  Persia. 
Graduates  from  Marietta  in  1887.  Second 
visit  to  Persia.  Enters  Princeton  in  1889. 
The  Benham  Club.  Summer  work.  Grad- 
uates from  Princeton  in  1892  and  goes  to 
Persia    as    a  missionary. 

CHAPTER  III:  THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY       54 

His  father's  death.  Estimate  of  his  father's 
work.  His  mother  leaves  Persia.  Her  death 
1921.  The  Syrians.  Mr.  Shedd  in  relief 
work.  A  spiritual  experience.  Coming  of  the 
Russian  Mission  to  Urumia.  Mr.  Shedd's 
varied  work.  His  marriage  in  1894.  Death 
of  his  wife.     A  furlough  to  America. 


xvi  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER    IV:    LEGAL    AND    POLITICAL 

WORK 71 

Status  of  Chrstians  in  Persia.  The  Legal 
Board.  Death  of  Dr.  J.  P.  Cochran.  Mr. 
Shedd  appointed  to  legal  and  political  work 
as  station  representative.  Murder  of  Rev. 
B.  W.  Labaree.  The  Persian  Revolution  in 
Urumia.  Turkish  invasion.  Mr.  Shedd's  posi- 
tion of  leadership.     The  Russians  in  Urumia. 

CHAPTER    V:    EDUCATIONAL    AND    MO- 
HAMMEDAN WORK     ....       94 

Opening  of  a  school  for  Mohammedan  boys 
1904.  Difficulties,  aims.  After  ten  years. 
Training  young  men  for  the  native  ministry 
and  for  Moslem  work.  Mr.  Shedd's  personal 
work  among  Moslems.  His  statement  of  the 
missionary  attitude  toward  non-Christian  reli- 
gions. His  request  to  be  definitely  assigned  to 
Moslem  work. 

CHAPTER  VI:  PREACHER  AND  SCHOLAR     118 

Dr.  Shedd  a  preacher  and  evangelist.  His 
relation  to  the  Syrian  Evangelical  Church 
and  its  problems.  Literary  work.  His  book, 
Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches.  The  Urumia 
Syriac  Concordance. 

CHAPTER  VII:  HOME  LIFE    ....     131 

His  marriage  to  Miss  Louise  Wilbur.  A  ser- 
ious breakdown  in  health.  Recuperation  in 
Switzerland  and  America.  Return  to  Persia 
in  1911.     The  political  situation. 

CHAPTER  VIII:  THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE 

CAPTIVES 138 

Russians  in  occupation  of  Urumia  at  opening 
of  the  Great  War.      Persian   sympathy  with 


CONTENTS  xvii 


FAGB 


CHAPTER  VIII   [Continued] 

the  Central  Powers.  The  Russian  evacuation. 
Dr.  Shedd  urges  the  Persian  authorities  to  set 
up  a  responsible  government.  Christians 
take  refuge  in  the  Mission  Compounds.  Dr. 
Packard's  rescue  of  the  Geogtapa  people. 
Christian  quarter  under  the  American  flag. 
Christians  from  northern  end  of  Urumia  plain 
flee  to  Russia.  Turks  occupy  Urumia  and 
control  affairs.  Dr.  Shedd's  dealings  with 
the  Turks.     The  flags  in  evidence. 


CHAPTER  IX:  IN  THE  DEN  OF  LIONS    .     158 

Working  with  the  Turks  through  the  Persians. 
Blackmail.  Ransom  of  the  Bishop  and  Dr. 
Lokman.  Fighting  for  the  release  of  captive 
women  and  girls.  In  the  villages.  Three 
massacres  by  the  Turks.  Dr.  Shedd's  method 
of  dealing  with  them.  Position  of  the  Ameri- 
can Mission. 

CHAPTER  X:  ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS     174 

Feeding  the  refugees,  pestilence  and  death. 
Sanitation.  At  the  Hospital.  Death  of  Made- 
moiselle Perrochet  and  Mrs.  McDowell.  Mrs. 
Shedd's  illness  and  death.  A  tribute.  Dr. 
Shedd's  review  of  the  situation.  Evacuation 
of  the  Turks  and  return  of  the  Russians. 

CHAPTER  XI:  SALVAGE 189 

Efforts  of  friends  outside  to  help  us.  A  mas- 
sacre of  Armenians  in  Salmas.  Halil  Bey's 
lying  telegram.  The  Turk.  Reasons  of  the 
persecution  of  Christians  by  Persians.  Dr. 
Shedd  helping  the  Russian  Consul  to  settle 
the  Christians  in  their  villages.     Return  of 


xviii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XI   [Continued] 

PAGE 

stolen  girls.  Turks  again  approach  Urumia, 
Russian  evacuation  begins  and  entire  Chris- 
tian population  flee  toward  Russia.  Flight 
halted^  Christians  return.  Russians  strengthen 
their  position  in  Urumia. 

CHAPTER  XII:  THE  INTERLUDE   .   .  202 

Dr.  Shedd  spends  a  year  in  America  and 
returns  to  Persia  in  fall  of  191 6.  Relief 
work.  Our  marriage  July  1917.  A  French 
Military  Hospital  comes  to  Urumia.  Service 
for  the  community  our  missionary  call. 

CHAPTER  XIII:  HOW  BEST  TO  SERVE    .     218 

Bolshevism  in  the  Russian  army.  Anarchy. 
Forces  of  law  and  order  unite  to  save  the 
situation.  Dr.  Shedd  appointed  Honorary 
Vice-consul.  The  Governor  refuses  to  organ- 
ize gendarmerie.  Allied  Staff  in  Tiflis 
attempts  to  organize  native  forces  in  Urumia 
to  hold  front,  then  withdraw  leaving  native 
Christians  in  tragic  situation.  Dr.  Shedd  the 
man  for  the  time.  Trying  to  find  the  best 
way  to  serve. 

CHAPTER  XIV:  STATESMAN  AND  MEDI- 
ATOR          231 

Two  armed  camps.  Persians  attack  Chris- 
tians, who  become  the  victors.  Prominent 
Moslems  take  refuge  with  Dr.  Shedd  under 
the  American  flag.  Lines  of  communication. 
Famine.  Government  by  Mixed  Council. 
Assassination  of  Mar  Shimon.  Revenge  of 
the  Syrian  tribes.  Dr.  Shedd  saves  the  Mos- 
lems of  Urumia.    Turks  gather  about  Urumia. 


CONTENTS  xix 

CHAPTER  XIV  [Continued] 

FAGB 

French  Hospital  Staff  and  Russian  Consul 
leave  Urumia.  Turks  make  repeated  attempts 
to  take  Urumia.  The  Christians  at  bay. 
Relief  Committee  furnish  the  fighters  with 
bread.  Dr.  Shedd's  health  breaking.  A  Brit- 
ish aeroplane.  Part  of  the  army  go  to  meet 
a  British  squadron  at  Sain  Kala.  •  Turks 
renew  attacks.     Flight  imminent. 

CHAPTER  XV:  THE  FINISHED  TASK        .     255 

Flight  towardithe  south.  Fugitives  repeatedly 
attacked.  At  Kara  Waran  Dr.  Shedd  saves 
those  in  the  rear.  We  reach  the  British  at 
Sain  Kala  six  days  after  leaving  Urumia. 
Attack  on  the  British  squadron  which  retreats 
in  rear  of  fleeing  people.  Dr.  Shedd's  illness 
and  death.  The  grave  by  the  roadside  near 
Sain  Kala.  The  people  reach  Hamadan  after 
a  terrible  journey. 

CHAPTER  XVI:  THE  THINGS  THAT  RE- 
MAIN   272 

The  British  Refugee  Camp  at  Baqubah.  My 
return  to  Tabriz.  The  fate  of  those  who  re- 
mained in  Urumia  at  time  of  flight.  Last  mas- 
sacre May  24,  1919-  Rescue  of  the  remnants. 
The  trip  to  Sain  Kala  and  the  grave  at  Tabriz. 
The  people  in  exile.    Our  responsibility. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Dr.  William  A.  Shedd        ....     Frontispiecd 


PAGE 


Priests  and  deacons  of  the  Old  Nestorian  Church, 

Baghdad,   1919 B2 

Maliks  or  Chiefs  of  the  Nestorian  or  Syrian  Mt. 
tribes  from  Turkey.  Photographed  in  the  refu- 
gee camp  at  Baqubak  near  Baghdad,  1919        .        32 

Map  of  Western  Persia  and  Eastern  Turkey        .        64! 

Map  of  Asia  Minor  and  Persia        .        ,        .        ,        65 

A  group  of  notables,  Mullahs,  Merchants  and 
landed  gentry,  attending  the  celebration  of  the 
constitution    regime    at   Urumia,    1908         .         .        80 

Foreign  Diplomats  and  representatives  and  Per- 
sian notables  at  the  birthday  celebration  of 
Muhammed  Ali  Shah  in  May,  1908  (Dr.  Shedd 
in  window  at  the  right) 80 

Dr.  Shedd  with  a  group  of  refugees  in  the  City 
Compound,  Urumia,  1918 224 

Mullahs  and  other  prominent  men  of  Urumia 
placed  themselves  and  the  city  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Dr.  Shedd  after  the  battle  of  Feb. 
22,    1918 240 

Our  Army  of  Defense,  Urumia,  1918      .        .        .      256 

Armenian  and  Syrian  refugees  in  the  Avenue  lead- 
ing out  of  the  Kurdish  Gate,  Urumia,  I9I8       .     ^56 


XXI 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 


CHAPTER  I:  A  GOODLY 
HERITAGE 

William  Ambrose  Shedd  was  of  the  eighth 
generation  of  the  Shedd  name  in  America,  and 
the  family  ancestry  has  been  traced  in  Eng- 
land for  twelve  generations  more  to  the  year 
1327. 

Daniel  Shed,  the  first  to  come  to  this  coun- 
try, settled  in  Braintree,  Massachusetts,  about 
the  year  1640.  One  of  the  name  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  "Boston  Tea  Party"  and  in  the  Hst 
of  the  Massachusetts  soldiers  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  are  the  names  of  fifty-two  Shedds. 

In  1829  the  grandfather  of  William  Am- 
brose, Rev.  Henry  Shedd,  a  graduate  of  Dart- 
mouth College  and  Andover  Seminary,  with 
his  bride,  Mary  Gerrish,  went  from  Rutland, 
Vermont,  to  Central  Ohio  as  a  home  mission- 
ary. Thus  for  nearly  a  century  the  name 
Shedd  has  been  associated  with  Missions. 

Henry  Shedd  was  fitted  by  nature  and  by 
consecration  to  the  work  of  a  pioneer  mission- 
ary at  the  time  when  the  two  great  questions 
before  the  Church  and  the  country  were  Aboli- 
tion and  Temperance.    He  was  uncompromis- 

25 


26  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

ing  in  his  attitude  toward  both  and  untiring 
in  his  labors  among  the  churches.  "Standing 
through  a  long  and  self-sacrificing  life  for  high 
principles  in  Church  and  State,"  wrote  his 
grandson,  William  Ambrose,  "he  suffered 
much  unpopularity  for  his  anti-slavery  convic- 
tions, not  hesitating  to  bar  the  Communion 
against  the  slave-holder,  or  to  stand  alone  in 
Presbji;ery  or  Synod,  or  to  brave  the  rotten 
eggs  of  a  howling  mob." 

Henry  Shedd  was  also  a  patriot.  In  his 
diaiy  in  April,  1861,  he  wrote  that  he  had 
preached  on  the  war  before  the  first  company 
of  volunteers  raised  at  his  home  town.  Mount 
Gilead,  and  that  he  had  sent  ^ve  hundred  dol- 
lars in  gold  for  a  United  States  Treasury  note 
to  help  put  down  the  Rebelhon.  Three  of  his 
sons  served  in  the  Union  Armies. 

Life  in  the  new  country  was  hard  for  the 
frail,  cultured  wife,  and  in  1835  she  died,  leav- 
ing two  little  boys,  Charles  and  John  Haskell. 
John,  who  became  the  father  of  William  Am- 
brose, was  born  July  9,  1833,  and  from  the 
time  of  his  mother's  death,  even  after  his  fa- 
ther's second  marriage,  he  lived  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lewis  Hardinbrooke,  godly  neighbors  in 
that  pioneer  land,  and  his  foster  parents  had 
strong  influence  in  molding  his  character. 


A  GOODLY  HERITAGE  27 

His  early  education  was  received  in  a  log 
schoolhouse  in  the  woods.  Later  he  attended 
the  Academy  of  Center  College,  Ohio  Wes- 
leyan  University,  and  Marietta  College,  where 
he  graduated  in  1856,  second  in  his  class  and 
with  a  fine  record  for  character  and  scholarship. 

Shortly  after  graduation,  he  became  en- 
gaged to  Miss  Sarah  Jane  Dawes  of  Marietta, 
Ohio,  who  was  then  a  student  at  Western  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  Ohio,  from  which  institution  she 
graduated  in  1858.  Her  father  was  Henry 
Dawes,  whose  family  were  from  New  England 
and  among  the  first  settlers  in  Ohio.  An  an- 
cestor was  William  Dawes,  who  rode  with 
Paul  Revere  on  his  memorable  ride.  Her 
mother,  Sarah  Cutler  Dawes,  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Judge  Ephraim  Cutler  and  granddaugh- 
ter of  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,  who  for  more 
than  half  a  century  was  pastor  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  at  Hamilton,  Massachusetts. 
He  was  chaplain  in  the  Revolutionary  Army, 
and  late  in  life  a  member  of  the  United  States 
Congress.  As  director  and  agent  of  the  Ohio 
Company,  he  negotiated,  in  1787,  the  purchase 
of  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Ohio  and  Mus- 
kingum rivers,  and  secured  the  incorporation 
of  certain  articles  that  promoted  education 
and  forbade  slavery,  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787 


28  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

which  provided  for  the  government  of  the 
Northwest  Territory.  His  son  Ephraim  be- 
came a  settler  in  the  new  country  and  was  a 
member  of  the  convention  for  forming  the  first 
constitution  of  Ohio  and  so  rendered  to  that 
state  much  the  same  service  that  his  father  had 
performed  for  the  whole  Northwest  Territory. 

John  H.  Shedd  decided  upon  the  ministry 
for  his  life  work,  taking  two  years  of  his  theo- 
logical course  at  Lane  Seminary,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  and  the  third  year  at  Andover  Seminary, 
in  Massachusetts,  where  he  graduated  in  1859. 
While  in  the  Seminary,  he  offered  himself  as  a 
foreign  missionary  to  the  American  Board  and 
was  accepted.  His  son  William,  writing  nearly 
sixty  years  later  of  his  mother's  part  in  this  de- 
cision, said,  "This  consecration  to  missionary 
service  was  something  that  did  not  affect  him- 
self alone  and  surely  a  question  was  never  more 
fairly  faced  and  more  fairly  decided  on  the 
basis  of  fundamental  facts,  than  by  this  strong 
and  noble  woman." 

Jo(hn  Haskell  Shedd  and  Sarah  Jane  Dawes 
were  married  July  28,  1859,  and  shortly  after- 
wards sailed  for  Persia  under  appointment  by 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions  to  the  Nestorian  Mission  at 
Urumia.     This  Mission  station,  where  their 


A  GOODLY  HERITAGE  29 

son  William  was  born  six  years  later,  is  in  the 
northwest  corner  of  Persia  close  to  the  border 
of  Turkey.  It  is  a  land  where  time  is  counted 
in  millenniums,  on  the  borders  of  ancient  As- 
syria, Media,  and  Armenia,  while  to  the  north 
is  Mount  Ararat,  where  Turkey,  Persia,  and 
Russia  meet.  Urumia  is  the  traditional  birth- 
place of  Zoroaster,  and  many  great  ash  hills 
mark  the  points  where  for  centuries  were  kept 
burning  the  altar  fires  of  the  Parsees,  or  fire- 
worshipers.  The  plain,  over  which  are  scat- 
tered several  hundred  villages,  is  about  fifty 
miles  long  and  stretches  westward  to  the  tow- 
ering mountains  of  Kurdistan,  varying  from 
five  to  twenty-five  miles  in  width.  Urumia 
Lake  on  the  east  is  a  great  inland  salt  sea 
nearly  a  hundred  miles  in  length  and  from 
forty  to  fifty  miles  at  its  greatest  width. 

The  Mission  field  extended  westward  to 
Mosul  on  the  Tigris  near  the  site  of  ancient 
Nineveh,  and  included  the  plains  north  and 
south  of  Urumia  Lake.  This  territory  was 
partly  in  Persia  and  partly  in  Turkey.  In  the 
little  villages  of  the  plains  and  among  the 
mountains  of  Kurdistan  as  far  south  as  Mosul, 
wherever  occupied  by  Nestorian  tribes,  the 
missionary  found  a  parish. 

The  larger  part  of  the  population  of  the 


30  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Urumia  field  were  Persian  Mohammedans, 
Turkish  in  race  and  language  but  Persian  in 
sympathy  and  allegiance  and  belonging  to  the 
Shia  sect.  The  Nestorians,  or  Syrians,  were 
an  ancient  Christian  people  belonging  to  the 
Old  Xestorian  Church.  Thirty  thousand  of 
them  lived  in  the  villages  of  Urumia  and  sev- 
enty thousand,  more  or  less,  in  the  Kurdish 
mountains,  on  the  Turkish  side.  The  Chal- 
deans who  live  in  the  Tigris  valley  are  Nes- 
torians  who  have  been  converted  to  Roman 
Catholicism.  There  were  Jews  in  small  num- 
bers through  the  whole  field.  Many  thousand 
Armenians  lived  along  the  Persian  border,  in 
and  about  Van,  Turkey,  and  scattered  through 
the  various  cities  of  Persia.  The  Kurds  live 
on  both  sides  of  the  border  and  are  Sunnis,  or 
Orthodox  Mohammedans,  like  the  Turks. 

Urumia,  oldest  of  the  Persian  mission  sta- 
tions, was  occupied  in  1835  by  Rev.  Justin 
Perkins  and  his  wife  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Ashiel 
Grant.  It  had  an  uninterrupted  history  until 
the  summer  of  1918  when,  by  the  tragedies  of 
the  World  War,  the  work  was  entirely  broken 
up  and  the  missionaries  and  all  the  Christian 
population  killed  or  driven  out. 

The  mission  was  at  first  under  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 


A  GOODLY  HERITAGE  31 

and  was  definitely  begun  for  Nestorians. 
They  were  responsive  and  a  large  work  was 
built  up.  Work  for  Mohammedans  was  re- 
stricted by  Persian  law,  ecclesiastical  interfer- 
ence, and  persecution.  One  of  the  aims  of  the 
first  missionaries  was,  "To  enable  the  Nes- 
torian  Church  through  the  grace  of  God  to 
exert  a  commanding  influence  in  the  spiritual 
regeneration  of  Asia."  For  twenty  years  an 
earnest  effort  was  made  to  revive  and  purify 
the  Old  Nestorian  Church,  without  interfer- 
ing with  its  organization.  As  a  body  of  spirit- 
ual and  enlightened  converts  developed,  they 
could  not  find  in  the  dead  language,  the  rituals 
and  ordinances  of  the  Nestorian  Church,  the 
means  of  grace  and  the  instruction  they  desired. 
No  reforms  were  permitted  and  the  spiritually 
minded  were  driven  out.  Very  gradually  the 
separation  came,  for  it  was  not  desired  either 
by  the  missionaries  or  the  converts,  and  was 
accepted  by  them  as  a  necessity  only  after  all 
efforts  to  make  the  old  organization  a  spiritual 
power  proved  unavailing.  At  first  the  village 
pastors  and  other  workers  joined  with  the  mis- 
sionaries in  the  Communion ;  later  they  adopted 
a  simple  Confession  of  Faith  and  formed  their 
own  church  organization,  which  they  called  the 
Syrian  Evangelical  Church.     Their  first  con- 


32  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

ference  was  held  in  1862;  three  knushas,  or 
Presbyteries,  were  formed  in  Persia  and  one  in 
Turkey. 

A  system  of  village  schools  developed.  For 
higher  education  for  boys  Urumia  College  was 
begun  in  1836,  and  medical  and  theological 
classes  were  added  later.  Fiske  Seminary  for 
girls  was  opened  in  1838.  A  printing  press 
was  set  up  in  1839  and  began  printing  the 
Scriptures  in  the  vernacular.  Medical  work 
was  begun  by  Dr.  Grant  in  the  first  years,  and 
in  1880  Westminster  Hospital  was  opened  by 
Dr.  J.  P.  Cochran. 

The  missionary  vision  was  ^^ Persia  for 
Christ"  and  in  1870  the  name  *'Nestorian  Mis- 
sion" was  changed  to  "Mission  to  Persia."  In 
1871  the  mission  was  transferred  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Board,  under  whose  care  it  has  been 
ever  since.  As  soon  as  the  policy  of  expansion 
was  accepted  by  the  home  Board,  active  ef- 
forts were  made  to  occupy  new  fields.  Ta- 
briz, the  second  station  of  the  West  Persia 
Mission,  was  opened  in  1873.  Teheran,  the 
first  of  the  East  Persia  Mission  stations,  was 
opened  in  1872,  followed  by  Hamadan,  Kas- 
vin,  Resht,  Kermanshah,  and  Meshed.  John 
H.  Shedd  had  a  prominent  part  in  this  ex- 
pansion work.    Within  a  few  weeks  of  his  ar- 


PhIK.ST^^  AND  1jKA(()\S  OF  THE  OLD  XESTORIAX  t'HlKCH, 
BAGHDAD, 1919 


MALIKS  OR  CHIEFS  OF  THE  XESTOKIAN  OR  SYRIAN  MOUNTAIN  TRIBES 
FROM  TURKEY.  PHOTOGRAPHED  IN  THE  REFUGEE  CAMP 
AT  BAQUBAK,  NEAR  BAGHDAD,  1919 


A  GOODLY  HERITAGE  33 

rival  on  the  field  in  1859,  he  was  visiting  the 
schools  and  homes  in  the  villages  and  making 
short  tours  into  adjacent  districts. 

"My  mind  is  to  get  all  the  information  hy 
personal  inspection  and  from  the  opinions  of 
others  which  is  possible,"  he  wrote  that  first 
year,  "and,  candidly  looking  at  the  interests  of 
the  work,  to  go  where  the  Master  calls."  He 
was  a  student  of  the  whole  field  and  his  vision 
soon  expanded  to  take  in  the  whole  of  Persia 
as  a  mission  field.  This  outlook  he  never  lost 
and  was  always  ready  to  say,  "Come,"  rather 
than,  "Go."  He  was  clear-headed,  mature  and 
balanced  in  judgment,  consecrated  in  spirit,  in- 
tensely in  earnest,  a  layer  of  foundations. 
"He  had  a  passion  for  developing  new  terri- 
tory as  well  as  for  painstaking  effort  in  behalf 
of  individuals." 

A  letter  he  wrote  in  1870  gives  a  picture  of 
a  typical  j  ourney  of  those  days : 

"The  distance  passed  over  in  my  eight 
weeks'  tour  was  about  seven  hundred  miles. 
Of  the  road  it  is  enough  to  say  that  in  very 
few  cases  were  we  able  to  make  more  than 
thirty  miles  a  day,  while  in  some  places  horses 
cannot  travel  at  all  and  mules  are  in  constant 
danger,  creeping  along  at  the  slow  pace  of 
twelve  to  fifteen  miles  a  day. 


34  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

"The  fatigues  are  compensated  for  usually 
by  excellent  health,  by  pure  air  and  water  as 
clear  as  crystal,  and  by  refreshing  sleep.  In 
fact,  fatigue  is  often  a  blessing  in  disguise, 
as  otherwise  sleep  would  be  very  difficult  in  the 
squalor  and  confusion  of  many  a  night's  quar- 
ters. 

"The  plain  fare  of  coarse  bread  and  cheese 
is  compensated  for  by  an  appetite  that  makes 
any  food  a  luxury.  There  is  enough,  too,  in 
the  scenery  and  incidents  of  the  way,  in 
strange  places  and  customs,  in  the  antiquities 
of  these  regions,  to  give  such  a  journey  a  pe- 
culiar interest.  The  shadow  of  death  always 
following  one  in  this  land  of  villainy  and  blood- 
shed, casts  over  the  way  a  shadow  of  anxiety, 
and  awakens  a  peculiar  thankfulness  for  daily 
mercies  and  deliverances.  But  one  does  not  go 
as  a  traveler,  but  as  a  herald  of  salvation  to 
the  Kurds,  Jews,  Turks,  and  Christians,  an 
apostle  striving  to  leaven  the  masses  of  wild 
Kurdistan  with  the  Gospel  of  love.  Who  is 
sufficient  for  these  things  and  who  can  be  suf- 
ficiently grateful  for  the  privilege!" 

The  greatest  achievement  of  John  H.  Shedd 
was  the  organization  of  the  Evangelical 
Church,  in  which  he  had  the  leading  part.  The 
executive  body  of  the  Church  was  the  Evan- 


A  GOODLY  HERITAGE  35 

gelistic  Board,  composed  of  nine  members 
chosen  by  the  General  Conference  or  Knusha. 
There  were  also  the  Educational  and  Legal 
Boards,  chosen  in  the  same  way. 

Mrs.  Shedd  was  not  behind  her  husband  in 
zeal  and  devotion  to  the  Cause  and  was  his 
inspiration  and  co-worker  in  all  his  labors  and 
plans.  An  associate  once  said  of  them  that 
they  could  bring  to  a  station  meeting  more 
ideas  and  plans  for  work  than  the  station  could 
develop  in  a  year.  Mrs.  Shedd  frequently  ac- 
companied her  husband  on  his  tours  and  the 
hardships  of  the  way  were  softened  by  her 
poetic  appreciation  of  the  beautiful. 

"Those  mountain  journeys  were  not  very 
easy,"  she  wrote,  "all  that  was  necessary  in 
food,  bedding,  clothing,  and  furniture  must  be 
carried  on  horseback  over  steep  and  dangerous 
paths.  More  than  once  our  baggage  rolled 
down  the  steep  slopes  into  the  mountain 
streams.  I  can  see  the  tumbling  horses  now, 
and  the  water-soaked  goods,  but  I  remember 
more  vividly  the  wildly  grand  scenery  of  rocks 
and  cliffs  and  crags  and  tumbling  cascades 
glittering  in  the  sunlight." 

When  they  went  to  Urumia,  part  of  the  sta- 
tion was  living  in  the  city  where  were  the 
press,   girls'    school,   and   the   admmistrative 


36  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

work.  The  others  were  living  at  Seir,  a 
mountain  village  about  six  miles  from  the 
city,  where  the  boys'  school  was  situated. 
Twenty  years  later  a  new  property,  containing 
about  fifteen  acres,  a  mile  and  three-quarters 
from  the  city,  was  acquired.  This  became  the 
permanent  home  of  the  Boys'  School,  or  Col- 
lege, as  it  was  always  called,  though  not  of 
college  rank.  The  hospital,  missionary  resi- 
dences, and  smaller  houses  for  teachers  and 
hospital  assistants  were  also  built  here.  This 
compound  was  known  by  natives  and  for- 
eigners as  the  "College."  It  was  surrounded 
by  thick  mud  walls,  fourteen  feet  high,  with 
towers  for  watchmen  at  each  corner.  An  ave- 
nue bordered  on  each  side  by  a  row  of  tall, 
magnificent  plane  trees  divided  the  compound 
and  was  its  chief  natural  glory.  The  buildings 
were  made  of  sun-dried  brick,  with  red  or 
burnt  brick  for  facings,  and  with  flat  mud 
roofs. 

During  their  second  year  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Shedd  went  to  S almas,  the  plain  north  of  Uru- 
mia,  to  work  for  Armenians.  Here  visitors 
came  by  the  score,  sometimes  a  hundred  a  day. 

"I  was  never  so  much  noticed  in  my  life, 
before  or  since,"  Mrs.  Shedd  said;  "I  don't 
see  how  I  ever  got  my  house  into  tolerable 


A  GOODLY  HERITAGE  37 

order,  for  I  was  never  alone  and  all  I  did  was 
of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  women,  who 
came  in  troops." 

One  day,  utterly  tired  out,  she  hid  herself 
in  a  back  room  and  lay  down  to  rest.  In  a  few 
moments  a  sound  attracted  her  attention,  and 
looking  up,  there  stood  a  dozen  or  more  women, 
crowding  in  "to  see  the  lady  sleep."  They 
had  climbed  in  through  a  window. 

Later  they  moved  back  to  Urumia  and  it 
was  in  this  remote  corner  of  the  ancient  world, 
with  its  Oriental  character,  thought,  and  life 
little  changed  since  the  days  of  Abraham,  in 
the  little  mountain  village  of  Seir,  overlooking 
the  Urumia  plain,  that  William  Ambrose 
Shedd  was  born  January  24,  1865. 


CHAPTER  II:  EARLY  INFLUENCES 
AND  EDUCATION 

When  William  was  five  years  old,  the  fam- 
ily, which  consisted  of  Charles,  William,  Sarah, 
and  John  (two  children  having  died  in  in- 
fancy), came  to  America  on  furlough,  and 
owing  to  the  ill-health  of  the  mother,  they  were 
unable  to  return  for  several  years. 

At  the  time  of  their  arrival  in  America,  after 
an  absence  of  eleven  years  in  the  Old  World, 
Mrs.  Shedd's  nephew,  then  a  small  boy,  says, 
"There  was  a  great  deal  of  excitement  in  our 
family  about  their  return.  My  father  met 
them  in  New  York.  He  was  very  fond  of  his 
sister,  of  course,  and  we  all  greatty  admired 
her.  In  fact,  I  think  I  have  never  seen  a  more 
beautiful  face.  It  was  so  full  of  dignity  and 
sweetness  and  strength.  We  all  of  us  felt  this 
and  greatly  enjoyed  the  times  when  she  would 
gather  us  around  her  and  try  to  instill  some 
good  ideas  into  our  wayward  minds.  Father 
saw  the  family  in  New  York  before  we  saw 
them  and  told  us  that  Aunt  Jane  was  wearing 

38 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  39 

the  same  hat  that  she  wore  when  she  went  to 
Persia,  but  would  attract  admu'ation  in  any 
hat." 

Wilham  was  seven  years  old  when  they  went 
to  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  where  Mr.  Shedd 
was  engaged  in  work  for  freedmen  in  Biddle 
Institute,  now  Biddle  University.  The  life 
was  hard  there,  because  families  engaged  in 
work  for  Xegroes  were  ostracized  socially  and 
the  children  were  cut  off  from  good  schools 
and  companionship  with  other  children. 

During  the  six  years  in  the  South,  two  boys, 
Ephraim  and  Harry,  were  added  to  the  fam- 
ily and  a  great  sorrow  came  to  them  in  the 
death  of  the  little  sister,  Sarah,  or  "Daisy,"  as 
she  was  called.  At  that  time  William  was  very 
ill,  and  his  life  was  despaired  of.  "I  remember 
how  thin  and  weak  he  was,"  wrote  his  mother, 
"as  he  sat  bolstered  up  in  an  easy  chair  in  my 
room.  He  was  not  ten  years  old  then,  but  he 
was  an  interested  reader  and  talked  with  me 
of  Russian  affairs  and  international  relations." 

Of  the  influences  and  impressions  of  these 
years  in  the  South,  William  A.  Shedd  himself 
wrote,  "My  own  memories  as  a  boy  tell  of  no 
friends  among  the  white  children  of  the  place. 
We  children  were  sent  to  the  white  Presby- 
terian church  of  the  town.    The  doctor  had  the 


40  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

privilege  that  doctors  have  of  ignoring  social 
conventions,  and  he  was  a  friend.  There  was 
a  German  who  kept  a  country  store  and  with 
whom  my  father  labored  to  induce  him  to  give 
up  selling  intoxicants.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
have  no  memories  more  delightful  than  those 
of  going  with  my  father  behind  the  steady 
mare  'Judie'  to  the  country  churches  under  his 
care.  Communion  services  were  sometimes 
held  in  the  woods,  the  communicants  sitting  on 
either  side  of  rough  plank  tables  under  the 
trees,  and  there  was  a  solemnity  and  simplicity 
about  it  that  laid  hold  on  the  imagination.  At 
noon,  picnic  dinners  were  spread,  and  the 
lapse  of  years  has  not  dimmed  the  memories 
of  fried  chicken,  sweet  potatoes,  pies  and  cakes 
and  other  dainties  made  by  cooks  who  had 
learned  the  art  in  the  great  houses  of  the  slave 
plantations.  These  things  played  a  larger  part 
in  the  boy's  life  than  in  his  father's. 

"The  memories  of  these  years  are  full  of  the 
common  pleasures  of  country  life  in  America — 
the  pets  and  garden,  the  walks  and  picnics  in 
the  woods,  one  summer  spent  on  the  seashore 
in  New  Jersey,  and  the  trip  to  Philadelphia  to 
the  Centennial  Exposition  in  1876." 

In  1878  Marietta  College  conferred  upon 
Mr.  J.  H.   Shedd  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  41 

Divinity.  The  same  year  he  and  Mrs.  Shedd, 
with  the  younger  children,  returned  to  Persia, 
leaving  William  and  his  older  brother  Charles 
with  their  grandmother  and  Aunt  Lucy  Dawes 
in  Marietta.  The  family  thus  divided  was 
never  again  united.  In  Marietta  among  his 
mother's  friends  and  relatives,  William  lived 
while  preparing  for  college  and  through  his 
college  years.  There  were  numerous  cousins, 
and  they  ^vith  a  few  other  intimate  friends, 
formed  the  "Hill  Crowd." 

Marietta  was  the  place  where  WilHam  made 
his  boyhood  friends  and  where  he  was  a  real 
boy  himself.  There  was  only  one  girl  among 
that  crowd  of  boys,  and  she  was  sister  to  them 
all.  In  recalling  those  happy  days  she  says, 
*'I  counted  on  Will  to  defend  me  when  I 
needed  defense.  His  ready  wits  were  used  for 
my  benefit  against  any  of  the  boys  when  we 
argued  or  quarreled,  and  I  counted  definitely 
on  his  size  and  his  brains  as  a  help  in 
trouble.  I  remember  once  when  he  con- 
tended that  the  fact  that  I  was  a  girl 
didn't  disqualify  me  from  participating  in 
their  society  on  a  basis  of  equality.  This  was 
when  one  of  the  boys  had  objected,  on  the 
score  of  sex,  to  my  tagging  along.  It  is  all 
forgotten  except  my  gratitude  to  Will  because 


42  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

he  respected  me  in  spite  of  the  fact,  the  bitter, 
humiliating  fact,  that  I  was  a  girl. 

"Will  looked  more  hke  my  father  than  any 
of  his  sons,  and  his  keen  brown  eyes  that  saw 
eveiything  but  were  so  soft  and  smiling  to  his 
friends,  were  like  my  father's,  as  were  his  thin, 
small,  brown  hands.  Their  attitude  toward 
righteousness  was  the  same.  Neither  of  them 
did  right  with  a  'hoher  than  thou'  air  or  with 
set  teeth,  but  they  both  always  did  right.  It 
never  occurred  to  either  of  them  to  consider 
anything  else." 

The  "Hill  Crowd"  was  made  up  of  a  very 
bright  set  of  boys,  some  of  them  brilliant  and 
none  of  them  more  than  fifteen  years  old  when 
ready  for  college. 

"It  did  not  take  us  long  to  realize  the  qual- 
ity of  Will's  mind,"  wiutes  one  of  them,  "five 
minutes  with  him  upon  a  difficult  mathematical 
problem  would  help  me  more  than  twice  the 
amount  of  time  with  any  teacher.  He  was 
always  helping  some  one  in  this  way.  More 
particularly  when  he  returned  in  1885  did  I 
come  to  appreciate  this  quality  of  his  mind. 
By  this  time  we  were  putting  in  our  leisure 
hours  in  social  activities.  I  am  sure  that  the 
period  from  1885  to  1887  was  in  every  way 
a  very  happy  period  in  Will's  life.    Our  pleas- 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  43 

ures  were  simple  and  innocent  but  very  keen. 
We  took  picnics  in  skiffs  and  sometimes,  when 
we  could  raise  the  money,  by  carriage.  He 
joined  us  in  all  our  sports  and  excelled  in  most 
of  them.  He  was  always  good  natured  and 
happy  and  full  of  fun.  I  cannot  imagine  that 
he  would  ever  fail  to  see  the  point  of  a  bright 
remark  or  that  he  could  ever  have  been  so 
burdened  that  his  eyes  could  not  have  snapped 
at  something  really  humorous.  He  was  always 
sympathetic,  keen  in  the  enjoyment  of  humor, 
quick  in  repartee,  and  a  very  jolly,  genial  com- 
panion, ready  at  any  time  to  turn  to  the  con- 
sideration of  serious  matters,  which  he  always 
clarified  by  his  discussion.  I  have  heard  one 
who  was  his  most  sincere  admirer  at  that  time, 
say  many  times  that  Will  Shedd  had  the  clear- 
est mind  of  any  person  he  had  ever  known." 

At  fifteen  William  entered  Marietta  Col- 
lege. He  tutored  some  of  the  boys  in  the 
Academy  who  found  him  a  teacher  of  unusual 
skill.  One  of  them  recalls  him  as  being  more 
tolerant  toward  the  younger  boys  than  older 
boys  usually  are,  but  most  of  all  remembers 
him  for  his  attitude  toward  the  "black  sheep," 
which  was  always  one  of  the  most  admirable 
of  his  characteristics.  In  later  life  he  was  sel- 
dom heard  to  speak  in  adverse  criticism  of 


M  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

others,  and  those  whose  ideals  and  training 
were  different  from  his  own  were  not  kept  at 
a  distance,  but  frequently  found  in  him  a  warm 
and  sympathetic  friend.  During  those  last 
months  in  Urumia  when  he  was  the  central 
figure  in  our  little  turbulent  and  isolated  world, 
men  of  every  stamp  came  to  him  for  counsel. 
Some  of  the  friendships  he  made  were  a  little 
joke  between  us  and  occasionally  when  some 
scamp  of  unusually  evil  reputation  in  his  ex- 
tremitj^  turned  to  Dr.  Shedd  for  advice,  the 
latter  would  announce  to  me  with  a  smile  and 
a  twinkle  in  his  eyes,  that  he  had  made  another 
new  "friend." 

Two  of  the  strongest  influences  in  his  life 
while  at  Marietta  were  his  grandmother  and 
aunt. 

"She  taught  us  reverence  for  all  holy  things, 
God,  the  Bible,  the  Sabbath,"  he  said  of  his 
grandmother.  "She  taught  us  to  honor  our 
ancestry  and  that  is  a  very  wholesome  element 
in  self-respect.  Then,  too,  she  was  such  an 
example  of  mental  activity  and  untiring  zeal. 
She  was  part  of  my  liberal  education.  The 
lessons  of  character  and  faith,  who  can  esti- 
mate them!  The  Ninetieth  Psalm  and  the 
Fourteenth  of  John  are  inseparably  connected 
with  her  memory.     I  don't  know  how  many 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  45 

times  she  has  had  me  read  them  at  prayers, 
always  one  or  the  other  when  there  was  any 
special  occasion,  as  a  departm-e  from  home." 

"You  must  always  be  sure,"  he  wrote  to  his 
Aunt  Lucy,  "that  every  year  I  live  I  appre- 
ciate more  and  more  your  unselfish  devotion 
and  all  that  you  have  done  for  me." 

At  the  time  of  her  death  in  his  tribute  to  her, 
he  said,  "Her  generosity  of  time  and  trouble 
was  drawn  upon  most  freely  by  us,  her  nephews 
and  nieces.  She  never  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  our 
requests  and  never  despaired  of  our  success. 
The  Hill  Crowd  had  no  more  devoted  cham- 
pion than  she." 

At  the  close  of  his  sophomore  year,  being 
only  seventeen  and  not  robust,  his  parents 
urged  the  postponement  of  the  remaining  years 
of  college  work  that  he  might  be  with  them 
in  Persia.  In  October,  1882,  after  several 
weeks  of  interesting  travel,  he  reached  Urumia 
and  home. 

The  year  1880  had  been  a  memorable  one 
in  the  history  of  Urumia  Station.  Terrible 
famine  had  been  followed  by  the  Kurdish  raid 
of  Sheik  ObeiduUah.  Until  the  World  War 
all  events  in  Urumia  dated  from  the  "Coming 
of  the  Sheik."  In  the  Shedd  home  this  year 
was  not  less  memorable.     "The  year  1880," 


46  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

wrote  theii'  son  William,  ''was  to  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Shedd  the  hardest  of  all  the  years  of  their 
missionary  service.  They  passed  through  the 
trials  of  famine  only  to  endure  the  perils  of  a 
Kurdish  raid.  The  famine  was  scarcely  over, 
when  word  came  from  America  of  the  serious 
nervous  breakdown  of  their  oldest  son,  while 
the  Kurdish  hordes  left  barely  in  time  for  them 
to  take  to  the  Mission  graveyard  at  Seir  the 
little  body  of  their  youngest  son."  It  was  a 
time  of  great  danger  and  responsibility  to  the 
Mission  and  it  was  through  the  influence  and 
wisdom  of  Dr.  J.  P.  Cochran  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  was  averted.  "The  real  pro- 
tection and  reliance  was  the  banner  of  trust  in 
God.  Strong  in  that  faith  were  those  who 
guided  the  affairs  of  the  miniature  state." 

Disturbed  political  conditions  and  the  pres- 
sure of  work  made  life  in  the  Mission  Station 
very  busy  and  the  boy  found  plenty  to  do,  cata- 
loguing College  and  Station  libraries,  teach- 
ing in  the  high  schools  and  college,  studying 
language,  visiting  village  schools,  tutoring  his 
younger  brothers,  and  so  releasing  his  mother 
for  more  missionary  work.  His  father  was 
principal  of  the  College  and  when  the  boy 
was  leaving  after  two  and  a  half  years  at 
home,  could  well  say,  "After  my  son  leaves. 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  47 

it  will  be  very  hard  for  one  missionary  alone 
to  do  justice  to  the  college  work,  having  both 
theological  and  college  classes  that  need  his 
teaching.  He  has  done  full  w^ork  in  teaching 
and  helping  in  the  college  and  in  vacations 
has  done  considerable.  He  is  now  twenty  years 
of  age  and  his  inclination  seems  to  be  toward 
the  ministry.  He  has  learned  the  Syriac  and 
some  Persian." 

The  next  two  years  were  spent  in  Marietta 
College  where  he  entered  into  all  the  College 
activities,  frequently  took  part  in  oratorical 
contests,  and  during  his  Senior  year  edited  the 
College  paper,  the  "Olio." 

He  had  not  yet  decided  upon  his  future 
course  in  life.  "Now  that  I  am  a  man  in 
years,"  he  wrote  his  mother  on  his  twenty- 
first  birthday,  "I  suppose  that  I  ought  to 
have  a  fixed  purpose  and  aim  in  view.  If  I 
were  to  follow  my  own  inclinations,  I  should 
go  ahead  and  study  some  branches  and  settle 
down  as  teacher  or  college  professor  (if  I  could 
get  such  a  place)  and  live  a  rather  inactive  life. 
But  I  suppose  I  ought  to  do  what  will  do  the 
most  good,  and  there  are  certainly  many  rea- 
sons why  I  should  go  to  Persia."  "I  beheve 
my  natural  ideal  of  life,"  he  wrote  later,  "would 
be  a  cozy  home  with  money  enough  in  United 


48  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

States  bonds  to  relieve  me  of  the  trouble  of 
keeping  accounts  in  order  to  keep  expenses 
down.  I  do  believe  that  I  was  born  with  an 
antipathy  to  economizing.  I  don't  think  that 
I  am  especially  extravagant  in  my  tastes,  but 
I  don't  like  to  bother  about  ways  and  means." 
He  graduated  from  Marietta  in  1887  and 
the  same  fall  again  went  to  Persia  to  help  the 
hard  pressed  missionaries,  especially  his  father, 
who  had  not  had  a  furlough  for  ten  years. 
The  conditions  under  which  the  Mission  was 
working  at  that  time  are  revealed  in  a  letter 
written  by  Dr.  John  H.  Shedd,  "Sometimes 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  clouds  are  closing  round 
us.  We  have,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Turks, 
bigoted  and  cruel  beyond  reformation,  bound 
by  their  religion  and  all  their  instincts  to 
repress  the  light  if  they  can.  Quite  overshad- 
owing all  these  regions,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
the  great  empire  of  Russia,  crushing  all  lib- 
erty of  conscience.  We  hear  of  the  banishment 
of  three  preachers  of  Tiflis  who  have  just  been 
banished  for  four  years  for  no  offense  but 
preaching  the  Gospel.  The  same  spirit  per- 
vades Persia.  Notice  has  been  served  to  desist 
from  all  sales  of  Scriptures,  so  strongly  worded 
that  it  says,  'any  one  who  reads  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  worthy  of  death.'     Then  in  our  little 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  49 

world  among  nominal  Christians,  the  order 
of  the  day  is  wrong  and  outrage.  The  reac- 
tionaries of  the  Government  and  the  landlords 
are  more  and  more  oppressive  and  there  is 
no  redress.  The  people  are  impoverished  and 
often  discouraged  and  much  demoralized  as 
to  civil  affairs.  I  could  write  a  chapter  of 
wanton  outrage  on  some  of  the  most  inoffen- 
sive preachers  and  members." 

William  spent  two  years  at  this  time  in 
Urumia,  his  principal  work  being  the  station 
treasury  and  teaching  in  the  College.  His 
father  and  mother  took  their  furlough  to 
America,  leaving  such  heavy  responsibilities 
upon  his  shoulders  as  made  him  long  for  the 
wisdom  of  experience.  *'I  need  guidance  and 
especially  moderation.  I  wish  I  knew  how  to 
be  firm  and  yet  gentle.  More  and  more  I  feel 
my  weakness  in  comparison  with  the  work 
given  me  to  do.  Maybe  this  feeling  will  help 
me.  We  all  of  us  need  a  spiritual  refreshment. 
I  wish  I  had  talked  more  frankly  about  these 
things,"  he  said. 

These  two  terms  of  more  than  four  years 
spent  in  Persia  during  his  preparatory  years, 
not  only  enabled  him  to  get  a  knowledge  of 
the  languages,  but  gave  him  a  sympathetic 
and  affectionate  imderstanding  of  the  people. 


50  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Many  of  the  friendships  formed  then,  espe- 
cially among  the  Syrians,  were  strengthened 
and  mellowed  by  the  later  years  of  common 
service  and  hardships,  until  in  the  last  years 
he  became  the  adored  and  trusted  leader  of 
a  great  multitude. 

He  returned  to  America  in  the  summer  of 
1889  and  entered  Princeton  Seminary.  The 
days  here  were  full  of  intellectual  interests, 
hard  work,  and  pleasant  friendships  with  their 
enriching  experiences.  "He  was  always  love- 
able"  and  he  counted  his  friends  among  life's 
richest  gifts.  "I  am  in  the  Benham  Club," 
he  wrote,  "the  very  best  boarding  club  in  the 
Seminary,  not  so  much  in  the  quality  of  the 
board,  though  that  is  excellent,  as  the  quality 
of  the  crowd." 

The  affectionate  name  given  him  by  his 
friends  at  Princeton  was  "Sheddy."  "Without 
the  first  indication  of  priggishness  in  his  rather 
quiet  and  reserved  nature,"  writes  one  of 
them,  "he  enjoyed  all  the  many  sides  of  the 
Club  life  and  entered  as  far  as  his  nature 
allowed,  into  all  the  fun  of  the  hour.  'Sheddy' 
served  as  'Judge'  one  year  and,  according  to 
the  rules  of  the  Club,  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  inflicting  fines  upon  the  others  for  making 
puns. 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  51 

"He  did  not  take  an  active  part  in  the 
more  vehement  side  of  life  such  as  foot- 
ball and  baseball,  but  there  was  never  anything 
manifest  in  him  that  set  him  aside  from  these 
things. 

"To  supplement  the  curriculum,  which  at 
that  time  was  none  too  attractive,  some  of  us 
availed  ourselves  of  the  privilege  of  sitting  at 
'Sheddy's'  feet  studying  Syriac  Grammar  as  an 
optional.  Syriac  was  to  him  as  his  mother's 
tongue."  "His  elevation  of  character,  his  mod- 
est and  hearty  good  fellowship,  and  his  unusual 
ability  marked  him  as  one  of  the  leaders  in  the 
life  of  the  institution."  In  speaking  of  him- 
self at  that  time,  he  said  that  he  had  not  yet 
found  his  own  theological  opinions  and  was 
glad  to  form  a  friendship  with  one  inclined 
toward  Episcopalianism  as  he  did  not  wish  to 
be  too  much  under  the  one-sided  influences  of 
blue  Presbyterianism.  His  critical  faculty  was 
more  than  ordinarily  well  developed  and  he 
could  not  accept  ready-made  theological  opin- 
ions. He  had  learned  to  look  at  intellectual 
and  religious  problems  positively,  not  nega- 
tively. "What  I  do  beheve,  not  what  I  don't 
believe,"  he  said.  Being  a  natural  student,  he 
thoroughly  enjoyed  the  intellectual  atmos- 
phere.   "I  could  easily  resign  myself  to  a  com- 


X 


52  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

fortable  cloister — no  asceticism  in  it — and  de- 
generate into  a  book  worm,"  he  wrote.  "My 
ambition  is  to  become  a  competent  Orientalist 
along  some  line  and  add  some  light  to  the 
rays  that  come  from  the  East,  and  to  do  it  so 
as  to  help  the  missionary  work.  I  feel  that  I 
should  like  to  register  a  vow  to  devote  my  life 
to  Mohammedan  work,  not  to  the  exclusion  of 
other  work.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  the  hard- 
est missionary  problem  and  one  in  which  there 
are  the  fewest  ready  and  competent  to  engage. 
More  than  any  other  work,  it  requires  special 
preparation.  My  prayer  is  that  God  will  pre- 
pare and  use  me  in  converting  the  Mohamme- 
dan world,  in  the  way  and  place  He  sees  fit." 

While  in  the  Seminary,  Mr.  Shedd  spent 
one  summer  in  Sunday- School  work  in  South 
Dakota.  Another  summer  was  spent  in 
preaching  at  Marion,  Ohio,  with  so  much  satis- 
faction that  he  felt  that  if  anything  should 
prevent  his  becoming  a  missionary,  he  would 
like  to  devote  his  life  to  just  such  a  church 
as  that. 

During  his  last  year  at  Princeton,  he  worked 
on  his  thesis  for  the  Hebrew  Fellowship,  which 
was  awarded  him  and  which  carried  with  it  op- 
portunity to  study  abroad.  The  demand  for 
his  immediate  return  to  Persia,  however,  was 


EARLY  INFLUENCES  53 

SO  strong  that  he  felt  that  he  must  relinquish 
the  much  prized  opportunity  for  study  and 
accept  the  call.  He  asked  that  he  be  allowed 
to  postpone  the  use  of  the  Fellowship  for  two 
years,  but  he  was  never  able  to  avail  himself 
of  its  benefits  and  resigned  it  in  favor  of  a 
classmate.  "There  is  a  certain  relief  in  going 
out  to  Persia  this  year,"  he  wrote  his  mother, 
"and  still  it  is  a  pretty  hard  struggle,  and  it 
is  not  all  over  yet.  Of  course  it  can't  be 
helped;  a  man  can't  oppose  his  personal  pre- 
dilections to  his  duty,  but  I  never  knew  before 
just  how  hard  it  is." 

He  was  ordained  at  Marietta  in  the  summer 
of  1892  shortly  after  his  graduation  from 
Princeton,  and  a  few  weeks  later  sailed  for 
Persia,  a  full-fledged  missionary. 


CHAPTER  III:  THE  YOUNG 
MISSIONARY 

When  William  A.  Shedd  went  to  Urumia 
in  1892,  the  station  was  undermanned  and  he 
being  to  the  manner  born,  familiar  with  the 
languages  and  customs  of  the  people,  was  able 
from  the  first  to  assume  a  large  share  of  the 
work.  He  was  assigned  the  station  treasury, 
with  a  share  in  the  press  and  in  the  superin- 
tendence of  churches,  village  schools  and  out- 
field. 

During  his  first  summer  there,  he  made  an 
eight  weeks'  tour  through  Kurdistan  as  far 
as  Amadia  and  Mosul,  visiting  Mar  Shimon, 
the  civil  and  religious  head  of  the  Nestorian 
Church,  at  Kochanis,  the  seat  of  the  Patriar- 
chate. 

His  father,  the  senior  member  and  acknowl- 
edged leader  of  the  station,  was  in  failing 
health  and  found  it  necessary  to  give  up,  one 
by  one,  the  various  departments  of  work  with 
which  for  so  many  years  he  had  been  identi- 
fied and  which  he  so  greatly  loved.  His  mantle 
fell  upon  the  shoulders  of  his  son  and  the 

54 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  55 

father's  motto,  "Whose  I  am,  and  whom  I 
serve"  became  no  less  the  son's. 

John  Haskell  Shedd  died  April  12,  1895. 
"The  end  came  quietly  and  peacefully,"  said 
his  son,  telling  of  his  last  days.  "He  said  to 
me  on  the  last  Sunday  when  the  final  struggle 
began,  'I  don't  want  a  death  scene' ;  and  there 
was  none.  He  left  his  work  for  me,  he  said, 
a  precious  legacy  but  one  I  can  never  fulfill. 
I  answered  him  with  the  hope  that  I  might 
do  it  in  his  spirit.  *A^o,  not  that,  but  better, 
in  the  Spirit  of  Christ,'  he  said.  He  above 
all  things  served.  'A  servant  of  Jesus  Christ' 
would  be  his  fitting  epitaph." 

Later  William  A.  Shedd  wrote  an  estimate 
of  his  father's  work  for  the  Schaff-Herzog 
Encyclopedia,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
summary : 

"Mr.  Shedd's  missionary  work  deserves 
special  record  along  four  lines.  On  his  arrival 
on  the  field  as  a  young  missionary  of  unusual 
ability  and  energy,  he  was  restive  at  the  hmi- 
tations  of  the  work  for  the  Nestorians  and  he 
sought  hard  to  have  it  extended  to  the  Armen- 
ian and  Mohammedan  population  of  the  field. 
These  efforts,  though  not  successful  at  the 
time,  were  among  the  influences  that  prepared 
for  the  later  wide  extension  of  the  work  which 


••/ 


56  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

made  the  Mission  to  the  Nestorians  a  mission 
to  Persia. 

"A  second  line  was  the  effort  to  evangelize 
the  mountain  Nestorian  tribes. 

"Another  line  of  work  in  which  Mr.  Shedd's 
memory  and  influence  will  be  lasting  was  in 
the  training  of  native  workers. 

"But  the  chief  service  he  rendered  the  cause 
of  Missions  was  in  the  Organization  of  the 
Native  Syrian  Evangelical  Church.  In  his 
plans  and  principles  in  this  work,  he  was  ahead 
of  his  time." 

"The  truest  monument  to  the  memory  of 
John  Haskell  Shedd  is  the  Evangelical  Church 
in  Persia,"  wrote  another. 

The  year  following  the  death  of  Dr.  John 
Shedd,  his  wife  resigned  active  connection  with 
the  Mission  and  returned  to  America.  Here 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  she  bore 
upon  heart  and  brain  the  work  of  the  whole 
Mission  and  unceasingly  carried  to  the  throne 
of  grace  and  power  the  needs  not  only  of  the 
Mission,  but  also  of  scores  of  individuals. 
Through  all  the  sufferings  of  the  people,  espe- 
cially during  the  later  years,  she  lived  their 
sorrows  with  them.  Her  love  and  interest  in 
the  peoples  of  Persia,  to  whom  she  and  her 
husband  had  devoted  their  lives  and  to  whom 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  57 

she  had  consecrated  her  son,  later  surrender- 
ing him  in  his  final  sacrifice,  were  that  of  a 
mother  for  her  children,  and  continued  until 
her  death  March  19,  1921.  A  woman  of  large 
gifts  of  mind  and  heart,  she  was  one  of  the 
.strongest  influences  in  her  son's  life,  even  to 
the  last. 

When  missionary  work  among  the  Nestor- 
ians,  or  Syrians,  was  first  begun,  their  spiritual 
life  was  at  low  ebb.  Centuries  of  living  as  a 
subject  people  among  Mohammedans,  with 
violence  and  oppression  an  everyday  experi- 
ence, and  no  rights  of  redress,  had  been  debas- 
ing in  its  effect  on  character.  Such  sins  as 
lying,  deceit,  and  drunkenness  were  very  com- 
mon while  the  people  were  grossly  ignorant 
and  superstitious. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  the  work  of 
educating  and  training  them  in  Christian  man- 
hood and  womanhood  had  been  slowly  pro- 
gressing. The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  had  at  vari- 
ous times  manifested  Himself  in  power  in  the 
schools  and  churches.  The  Syrian  Evangelical 
Church,  in  spite  of  persecution  and  opposition 
without  and  of  error  and  sin  within,  was  a  liv- 
ing power  for  righteousness,  leavening  the 
mass. 

Now  unrest  among  the  workers  was  showing 


58  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

itself  and  there  was  constant  demand  for 
higher  salaries.  "The  whole  matter  of  employ- 
ing men  who  are  consecrated  to  the  service 
with  a  lot  of  'ifs'  is  an  insoluble  problem," 
wrote  Mr.  Shedd. 

The  American  fever  became  epidemic,  occa- 
sioned partly  by  a  desire  to  see  the  world, 
and  partly  by  such  political  and  industrial  con- 
ditions as  made  it  impossible  for  these  people 
to  better  their  condition  in  Persia.  Several 
thousand  Syrian  men,  mostly  outside  the 
Evangelical  Church,  were  spending  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  in  Russia,  working 
or  begging,  thus  leaving  some  of  the  Chris- 
tian villages  nearly  empty  of  their  male 
population.  This  custom  of  begging  in 
Russia  in  the  name  of  religion  was  so  common 
that  those  who  made  it  a  profession  were  called 
"Stealers  of  the  Cross."  More  and  more  the 
graduates  of  our  boys'  school  were  looking 
toward  Europe  or  oftener  America,  as  the 
Land  of  Promise,  where  all  their  dreams  would 
come  true. 

The  Syrians  had  been  a  subject  race  so 
long  that  they  were  sadly  lacking  in  initia- 
tive and  independence.  The  constant  persecu- 
tions and  oppressions  of  Mohammedan  village 
masters  and  government  officials,  the  frequent 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  59 

Kurdish  raids,  the  general  disorder  of  the 
country  which  the  Persian  Government  was 
unable  to  control,  the  discouraging  industrial 
conditions  and  Russian  influence  coming  in 
like  a  flood,  made  the  problem  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  EvangeUcal  Church  both  complex 
and  difficult.  These  problems  required  wis- 
dom, patience  and  a  sympathetic  understand- 
ing of  the  native  viewpoint,  and  there  was  no 
one  whose  judgment  was  more  depended 
upon  than  Mr.  Shedd's. 

"He  carried  with  him  into  his  work  the  clear 
and  steadfast  intellectual  power  which  marked 
his  student  days  and  his  power  grew  with  the 
years.  He  brought  to  bear  upon  Mission  prob- 
lems and  all  the  perplexities  of  the  work  in 
Persia,  a  mind  of  singular  purity  and  vigor." 

"I  suppose  there  will  always  be  two  ways  of 
looking  at  native  character,"  he  said,  "one 
making  practically  no  allowance  for  circum- 
stances, and  the  other,  perhaps,  lowering  the 
standard  too  much.  I  think  it  is  generally  the 
people  who  make  a  good  deal  of  allowance  for 
circumstances  who  are  able  to  talk  straight  to 
the  people  themselves." 

Apropos  of  Mr.  Shedd's  abihty  to  talk 
straight  to  the  people  is  this  incident  of  one 
who  had  been  reprimanded  for  his  misdeeds. 


60  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

*'01d  Shimon,  blind  and  forlorn,  was  in  to  ask 
after  Will's  health,  when  some  one  suggested 
that  Mr.  Shedd  was  no  friend  of  his.  He  re- 
plied, 'Mr.  Shedd  may  say  hard  things,  but 
he's  honest  and  straight.'  That  is  the  feeling 
that  all  have  toward  him.  They  know  where 
he  stands,  that  he  is  uncompromising  toward 
wrong,  but  that  he  will  be  friendly  and  give 
them  credit  for  whatever  is  good.  Will  is,  I 
think,  a  rare  combination  of  diplomacy  and 
strict  honesty.  Then  he  loves  the  people  and 
treats  them  with  respect,  and  they  trust  him." 

War  and  famine  have  been  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  Urumia  region,  and  the  suf- 
fering and  distressed  of  all  races  have  always 
turned  to  the  missionaries  for  help  in  their  ex- 
tremity. In  the  winter  of  1897,  Mr.  Shedd 
made  a  trip  to  Tergawar,  one  of  the  outlying 
border  districts,  trudging  through  the  snow, 
investigating  and  giving  food  to  the  two  thou- 
sand refugees  from  Turkey,  and  holding 
crowded  meetings. 

On  this  trip  he  was  invited  to  go  on  a  hunt 
for  mountain  sheep.  The  invitation  was  from 
Piroo,  a  Kurd  famed  as  a  robber,  who  for  a 
year  or  more  had  been  a  fugitive  and  had  just 
returned  to  his  home.  Mr.  Shedd  with  a  dozen 
Syrians  tramped  five  or  six  miles  over  the  hills 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  61 

to  Piroo's  village  which  was  built  house  against 
house,  all  under  one  roof,  over  which  the  road 
trailed  as  over  a  hiUock.  Here  on  the  roof 
they  were  cordially  received  by  Piroo,  "a  hand- 
some young  man,  slight  and  well-built,  quick 
and  alert  with  a  good  clear  eye."  He  routed 
his  wife  from  her  "apartment"  to  make  room 
for  the  dozen  guests.  This  was  a  room  twelve 
by  fifteen  feet  with  two  windows  about  a  foot 
square  and  served  as  sleeping  quarters  for  all. 
Here  they  sat  on  rugs  beside  a  smoky  stove, 
drank  tea,  and  ate  a  supper  of  rice,  chicken, 
and  dates  cooked  in  grease.  After  coffee  there 
was  a  guessing  game,  then  their  host  left  them 
and  as  sleep  was  impossible,  Mr.  Shedd  said, 
"I  kept  a  fellow  telling  mighty  stories  of  Rus- 
tum  and  Shah  Abbas  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  night." 

By  three  o'clock  they  were  on  their  way  up 
the  mountain,  trudging  through  snow  three 
feet  deep  on  the  level.  On  the  crest  of  the 
mountain,  a  herd  of  fifteen  or  twenty  mountain 
sheep,  "airy,  agile  and  graceful,  leaping  fromt 
rock  to  rock"  were  surrounded.  Said  Mr. 
Shedd,  "I  must  confess  I  was  too  exhausted 
to  do  anything  but  pant  and  cough  and  watch 
the  sport.  One  buck  was  given  to  me  for  my 
*prowess.' " 


62  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Another  time  when  he  had  gone  to  the  Sal- 
mas-Khoi  district  to  administer  relief  to  the 
refugees  who  had  escaped  the  massacres  in 
Turkey,  he  said  in  his  report,  "I  never  saw 
such  pitiful  creatures,  poor  little  children, 
fatherless  and  motherless.  I  was  glad  to  have 
something  to  help  them.  May  God  grant  us 
always  as  missionaries  a  part  in  this  Christ- 
like work  of  ministering  to  the  hungry  and 
naked.  It  is  all  'unstable  equilibrium'  till  some 
righteous  revenge  is  taken  for  the  blood  spilled 
in  Turkey.  Things  can't  be  settled  till  they're 
settled  right,  and  Persia  cannot  entirely  escape 
the  consequences  of  affairs  in  Turkey. 

"As  is  always  the  case  with  this  poor  mis- 
governed land,  the  innocent  suffer  with  the 
guilty,  or  oftener  instead  of  the  guilty.  I  saw 
one  poor  man  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's door  who  was  dying  and  did  die  a  few 
hours  later.  He  was  an  innocent  man  who  had 
been  arrested  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  an  escaped 
Revolutionist.  He  died  from  the  effects  of  the 
beating  and  branding  he  had  received  in  the 
Persian  prison." 

The  true  story  of  a  man's  life  is  incomplete 
without  the  record  of  his  inner  spiritual  experi- 
ences.   It  was  on  his  return  from  this  journey 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  63 

to  Khoi  and  Salmas,  when  depressed  by  thie 
* 'cruel  mercies  of  the  wicked"  which  he  had  wit- 
nessed, distracted  in  thought,  and  seemingly 
far  from  abiding  in  Christ,  that  like  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  he  met  the  Lord  in  the  way.  For  sev- 
eral days  and  nights  there  were  deep  searching^ 
of  heart  when  "It  seemed  as  if  the  Lord  were 
wrestling  with  me  and  I  must  not  let  Him 
go,"  he  said.  "It  was  to  me  a  conviction  of  sin, 
of  righteousness  and  of  judgment — a  revela- 
tion of  my  worthlessness,  weakness  and  sinful- 
ness. One  sin  after  another  was  shown  to  me 
in  its  true  hideousness.  At  the  same  time  I  felt 
God  very  near;  perhaps  in  the  way  meant  in 
saying  'He  that  is  near  Me  is  near  the  fire.'  It 
was  a  revelation  of  my  utter  inability  to  do 
anything  and  God's  readiness  to  do  everything. 
The  Lord  has  humbled  me  as  I  have  never  been 
humbled  before.  This  is  not  the  whole  either. 
I  have  never  known  before  how  real  a  power 
prayer  is,  how  in  real  truth  God  will  dwell  in 
us.  Many  things  are  different  and  life  is  new. 
I  do  not  wish  to  leave  the  valley  of  humiliation 
for  I  do  not  see  how  I  can  stand  except  as  I 
am  kept  in  mind  of  my  weakness  and  the  Lord 
knows  how  and  when  to  lead.  All  these  things 
are  intensely  real,  and  I  am  sure  it  is  God's 


64  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

work.  No  part  of  it  is  from  me,  not  even  any 
intellectual  appropriation  of  truth  or  mental 
vision  of  spiritual  things." 

One  hesitates  to  lay  bare  a  man's  soul,  but 
this  experience  was  a  crisis  in  his  life  and 
was  written  only  for  his  mother.  It  was  his 
faith  in  God  and  the  life  of  the  Infinite  within 
him  that  made  him  strong  to  bear  and  to  do, 
and  to  follow  the  inner  light  even  though  his 
vision  reached  beyond  the  ken  of  his  fellows. 

The  year  1897  marked  the  coming  of  the 
Russian  Mission  to  Urumia,  causing  a  big  land 
slide  toward  the  Russian  Church  and  creating 
consternation  in  the  other  churches  of  Urumia. 
As  the  Russian  priests  made  their  triumphant 
procession  through  the  villages,  nearly  the  en- 
tire Old  Nestorian  Church,  many  Armenians 
and  Roman  Catholics,  and  some  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  members  gave  their  names  to 
be  written  as  members  of  the  Russian  Ortho- 
dox Church. 

"The  methods  of  the  Russian  priests  were 
interesting,"  wrote  Mr.  Shedd.  "The  first 
thing  on  reaching  a  village  was  to  reconsecrate 
the  Nestorian  church  which  they  took  posses- 
sion of  without  discussing  the  question  of  legal 
rights.  Those  who  had  given  their  names  were 
then  received  individually  and  made  their  con- 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  65 

fession  to  a  priest.  Later  the  ^converts'  gath- 
ered in  the  churchyard  where  the  formal  recep- 
tion rite  was  performed.  The  people  through 
a  representative  and  by  kneeling  in  assent, 
renounced  the  errors  of  Nestorianism  and 
accepted  the  Russian  Orthodox  Church.  Then 
all  attended  the  communion  service  in  the 
church." 

The  Christian  races  who  had  for  so  long  suf- 
fered under  the  oppressions  of  the  IMoslems, 
saw  in  the  Russian  Mission  the  herald  of  Rus- 
sian political  influence  under  which  they  hoped 
to  find  deliverance  from  their  intolerable  posi- 
tion as  subject  races.  The  massacres  of  Chris- 
tians in  Turkey  brought  terror  and  panic  to 
the  hearts  of  Persian  Christians  and  they 
thought  to  find  refuge  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Russian  Church.  The  strongest  pressure  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  them  and  the  wildest 
hopes  were  indulged  in.  All  sorts  of  reports 
were  circulated  and  the  people  believed  that 
the  time  of  their  deliverance  was  at  hand  and 
that  at  last  they  would  be  free  from  Moslem 
oppression  and  secure  for  themselves  a  posi- 
tion of  influence.  This  movement  was  under 
the  distinct  patronage  of  the  Czar,  and  while 
on  the  surface  it  appeared  to  be  religious,  it 
was  purely  political  and  aroused  strong  Per- 


66  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

sian  feeling  against  the  Christians.  It  was  a 
testing  time  for  the  Evangelical  Church  but 
it  remained  loyal.  Some  went  over  to  the  Rus- 
sians but  most  stood  nobly  against  strong 
temptations.  Through  the  years  there  was 
steady  growth  in  the  influence  of  the  Evangeli- 
cal Church  and  steady  development  in  the  spir- 
itual life  of  its  members  as  well  as  an  increasing 
willingness  to  accept  responsibility.  Probably 
nowhere  in  the  world  had  the  Presbyterian 
Board  so  large  a  work  among  so  small  a  people. 
In  the  later  years  the  Evangelical  Church 
gained  prestige  out  of  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  its  members  and  though  it  was  not  the 
largest  church  in  Urumia,  it  was  the  most  in- 
fluential. With  the  Russians  their  relations 
were  friendly  and  with  the  Persian  authorities 
they  were  accorded  a  position  of  honor. 

During  these  years  Mr.  Shedd's  iirst  work 
was  in  the  College  as  principal  and  teacher 
of  Theology,  often  making  his  own  text-books. 
Part  of  the  time  he  was  also  station  treasurer, 
superintendent  of  village  schools,  editor  of  the 
Syriac  newspaper,  between  times  preparing 
other  literary  work,  preaching  on  Sundays, 
and  studying  languages  as  opportunity 
afforded.  He  possessed  marvelous  powers 
of    concentration    and    could    turn    off    an 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  67 

immense  amount  of  work.  In  his  report  of 
1899  he  speaks  of  making  an  attempt  to  regu- 
late the  spelling  of  the  Syriae  language,  work- 
ing on  a  Jewish  version  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  and  a  proposed  dictionary,  studying 
Old  Syriae  manuscripts,  helping  in  the  College 
museum,  and  acting  as  trustee  of  Deacon 
Abraham's  orphanage.  In  another  report  cov- 
ering fourteen  months,  he  told  of  having  done 
more  evangelistic  work  than  ever  before  and 
of  having  found  it  the  most  delightful  of  all 
work.  He  had  preached  ninety  sermons,  given 
fifteen  other  addresses  and  lectures  at  confer- 
ences, attended  twelve  preacher's  meetings 
and  seventy-five  other  meetings.  He  had  vis- 
ited forty-seven  villages,  seven  for  a  stay  of 
two  days  or  more.  There  were  two  extended 
trips  to  Tergawar  and  he  had  spent  a  week  of 
prayer  in  the  City  Church  and  Fiske  Seminary. 
His  teaching  work  was  very  close  to  his 
heart.  "It  comes  over  me  sometimes  over- 
whelmingly what  a  task  it  is  to  prepare  men  to 
stand  in  the  midst  of  this  weak  nation  and 
against  all  the  influences  for  evil  and  error," 
he  said.  "Yet  God  can  do  it  and  we  must 
depend  on  Him.  My  greatest  desire  here  is 
to  impart  to  my  pupils  such  conceptions  of 
truth  as  will  enable  them  to  live  really  spiritual 


/ 


68  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

and  Christian  lives  and  bear  witness  to  Christ 
in  most  difficult  circumstances.  I  think  more 
and  more  our  work  as  missionaries  is  to  live 
our  lives  rather  than  do  our  tasks,  only  to  live 
them  in  such  a  way  that  our  influence  really 
goes  out  into  the  world  about  us."  "A  man 
needs  to  be  intensely  in  earnest  in  some  funda- 
mentals and  then  to  take  a  great  many  other 
things  as  best  he  can,  form  a  working  hypo- 
thesis and  go  ahead.  After  all  the  chief  end 
of  life  is  to  do  the  will  of  God  not  to  know  it. 
It  is  most  happily  true,  we  can  often  do  it  with- 
out knowing  it  fully."  "It  is  our  calling  under 
God  to  raise  up  servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
will  find  it  their  meat  to  do  the  will  of  Him 
that  sent  them.  I  know  of  no  more  difficult  or 
nobler  work." 

In  1894  Mr.  Shedd  was  married  to  Miss 
Adela  L.  Myers  to  whom  he  had  become  en- 
gaged before  leaving  America.  Her  health 
was  never  robust  and  a  large  part  of  the  seven 
years  of  missionary  life  was  filled  with  suf- 
fering. Her  unselfish  and  joyous  nature  hid 
much  of  the  pain  from  others  and  there  were 
times  when  hope  brightened  in  the  prospect  of 
her  recovery.  There  were  long  seasons  of 
great  suffering  wonderfully  borne  in  patience 
and  cheerfulness,  but  at  last  the  "silver  cord 


THE  YOUNG  MISSIONARY  69 

was  loosed"  and  the  beautiful  spirit  of  Adela 
Shedd  found  rest  from  the  sufferings  of  earth, 
leaving  her  husband  with  two  little  girls. 

"Death  has  lost  some  of  its  terrors  for  me, 
but  I  realize  as  never  before  the  terribleness 
of  physical  suffering,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend 
some  months  later.  "There  is  a  saying  of 
Bishop  Westcott's  that  has  been  with  me  a 
great  deal.  He  said  not  long  before  his  death, 
with  reference  to  the  death  of  his  wife,  that 
we  must  guard  our  griefs,  lest  we  lose  the 
revelation.  There  is  a  revelation  in  bereave- 
ment, but  we  often  lose  it.  In  some  ways  the 
difficulties  all  come  over  me  as  time  passes, 
especially  as  regards  my  children.  They  are 
beautiful  little  girls,  three  and  six  years  old, 
and  I  realize  how  hard  it  is  to  mother  them  and 
how  much  they  need  what  I  can  give  them 
so  imperfectly.  After  all,  life  is  arranged  by 
God  as  a  school  of  character." 

In  1902  after  ten  years  of  service,  Mr.  Shedd 
came  to  America  on  furlough.  His  first  term 
had  not  held  for  him  the  opportunity  he  craved 
for  devoting  himself  chiefly  to  Mohammedan 
work.  Something  had  been  done  in  that 
respect,  in  the  way  of  personal  contacts  and 
friendships.  His  alert  and  active  mind  had 
been  busy   studying  the  problems   of  Islam 


70  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

and  he  was  prepared  when  the  opportunity 
came  for  definite  Moslem  work  in  fanatical 
Urumia.  His  work  had  been  primarily  for 
Syrians  and  he  had  made  for  himself  an  envi- 
able place  in  their  confidence  and  affection. 
His  knowledge  of  the  peoples  and  the  field 
had  broadened.  In  God's  school  of  character 
he  had  learned  some  deep  lessons  which  were 
fitting  him  for  larger  influence  and  teaching 
him  how  to  become  "all  things  to  all  men." 


CHAPTER  IV:  LEGAL  AND 
POLITICAL  WORK 

The  Christian  peoples  of  Persia  were  not 
recognized  by  Persian  Law  as  possessing  legal 
rights  on  a  basis  of  equality  with  Moslems. 
The  most  honored  and  self-respecting  Chris- 
tian might  be  subjected  to  the  grossest  personal 
insults  by  Mohammedans  without  any  right  of 
redress;  as  in  the  case  of  a  Syrian  preacher, 
a  man  of  culture  and  refinement,  a  graduate  of 
an  American  theological  seminary,  who  when 
spat  upon  in  the  bazaar  by  a  Mohammedan, 
could  offer  no  self-defense  nor  had  he  the  legal 
right  to  make  complaint. 

An  example  of  legal  injustice  which  oc- 
curred even  in  the  later  years  was  that  of  a 
prominent  Syrian  of  the  Protestant  com- 
munity from  whom  four  hundred  tomans^ 
were  extorted  by  the  Government  on  a 
trumped  up  charge  without  an  opportunity 
being  given,  even  to  state  his  case. 

Another  incident  illustrating  the  legal  status 
of  Christians  was  that  of  the  accidental  killing 
of  a  Mohammedan  near  one  of  the  largest 

1  Toman,  normally  one  dollar. 

71 


72  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Christian  villages.  Some  Mohammedan  camel 
drivers  were  stealing  grapes  one  night  in  a 
vineyard  belonging  to  a  Syrian.  The  alarm 
was  given  and  in  the  altercation  near  the 
village,  one  of  the  camel  drivers  was  shot  and 
killed.  In  the  darkness  it  was  not  evident  who 
fired  the  shot  which  was  the  only  one  fired. 
Investigation  showed  that  it  was  most  likely 
fired  by  one  of  the  camel  drivers.  The  Gov- 
ernment officials  took  up  the  matter  not 
with  the  purpose  of  investigating  or  punishing, 
but  with  the  intention  of  getting  out  of  it  all 
they  could  for  themselves.  In  Persia  the  vil- 
lage nearest  the  scene  of  a  crime  is  held  respon- 
sible, the  fine  for  the  life  of  a  Christian  being 
thirty  tomans  and  for  the  life  of  a  Mohamme- 
dan one  thousand  tomans. 

In  this  case  the  Governor,  a  prince  of  the 
royal  blood,  demanded  five  thousand  tomans 
of  the  village.  After  much  argument  and 
many  pleas,  this  sum  was  considerably  reduced. 
Then  the  villagers  appealed  to  the  foreign  Mis- 
sions to  intercede  for  them.  The  American, 
English,  French  and  Russian  Missions  were 
about  to  make  a  protest  against  such  a  fine  on 
the  ground  that  the  country  was  already  unsafe 
and  that  the  course  being  taken  by  the  Govern- 
ment would  put  a  premium  on  thieving  and 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         73 

tend  to  increase  the  general  insecurity,  when 
the  Russian  Vice-consul  took  up  the  matter. 
He  called  representatives  of  the  four  Missions 
to  meet  with  him  for  consultation.  The  Mis- 
sions were  glad  to  have  him  take  the  responsi- 
bility and  he  finally  succeeded  in  reducing  the 
amount  to  one  thousand  tomans.  Beside  this 
fine  the  villagers  had  to  pay  about  four  hun- 
dred tomans  in  fees  and  presents  to  govern- 
ment officials,  though  there  was  no  proof  of 
guilt  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  villagers. 

Cases  in  which  Moslems  were  a  party  must 
of  necessity  be  settled  in  the  Persian  courts, 
but  the  need  of  a  court  where  litigation  be- 
tween Christians  could  be  settled  was  an  urgent 
need.  The  cases  most  common  were  disagree- 
ments in  accounts,  settlement  of  estates,  a  few 
divorce  cases,  personal  and  family  quarrels. 
Such  matters  could  often  be  adjusted  by  a 
patient  hearing  and  authoritative  advice,  but 
if  allowed  to  get  into  the  Persian  courts  were 
seized  as  an  opportunity  for  exacting  bribes, 
causing  endless  trouble,  and  bringing  dishonor 
upon  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Legal  Board  of  the  Evangelical  Church 
was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  settling  such 
cases  between  Christians  and  so  preventing 
them  getting  into  the  Moslem  courts.     The 


74j  the  measure  OF  A  MAN 

members  of  the  Board  were  chosen  by  the 
Synod  with  reference  to  then'  fitness,  and  one 
missionary,  whose  position  was  practically 
that  of  judge,  represented  the  Mission.  For 
many  years  Dr.  J.  P.  Cochran  served  on  the 
Legal  Board  and  by  his  wise  and  fair  decisions 
and  his  rare  personality  gained  for  it  great 
prestige, 
p  In  1898  the  provincial  authorities,  including 

the  representative  of  the  Foreign  Office  and 
the  Crown  Prince,  who  represented  the  Shah 
in  Azerbaijan,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Cochran, 
issued  an  order  which  gave  full  recognition 
of  the  rights  of  the  Legal  Board  to  adjudicate 
matters  in  the  Protestant  Church.  Thus  the 
Legal  Board  was  formally  recognized  by  the 
Persian  Government.  To  this  court  were 
brought  all  sorts  of  cases  between  Christians, 
except  those  purely  criminal,  which  were 
settled  in  the  civil  courts,  and  the  Board's 
decision  was  accepted  as  final  by  the  Persian 
i      authorities. 

"The  fundamental  reason  for  this  remark- 
able state  of  things,"  wrote  Mr.  Shedd,  "is 
that  Eastern  jurisprudence  in  general  and 
Moslem  jurisprudence  in  particular  regard 
Law  as  a  religious  institution,  and  so  accept 
as  binding  within  the  bounds  of  each  religious 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         75 

community,  the  peculiar  laws  of  that  com- 
munity. Divorce  and  inheritance  are  generally 
regarded  as  subjects  especially  amenable  to 
religious  law.  So  we  had  here  to  constitute  a 
Church  Court.  The  appeal  in  any  case  where 
coercion  must  be  used  is  necessarily  to  the  Civil 
Court." 

In  practice  Moslem  law  in  many  instances 
became  customary,  but  the  general  basis  for 
law  in  the  Legal  Board  was  the  Canon  law  of 
the  Old  Nestorian  Church.  Latterly  a  code 
of  rules  with  reference  to  marriage  and  divorce 
based  on  the  Nestorian  Sunhadis  or  book  of 
Church  government,  was  adopted  by  the  Evan- 
gelical Church.  The  Old  Nestorian  law  was 
strict  but  not  clear  on  some  points,  and 
changed  social  conditions  required  modifica- 
tions. 

For  many  centuries  the  Nestorian,  or  Syrian 
people,  lived  under  Mohammedan  rule  in 
Turkey  and  Persia,  but  even  though  living  in 
the  midst  of  a  polygamous  people,  they  ad- 
hered strictly  to  the  marriage  laws  of  their 
own  faith  and  divorce  was  very  infrequent  until 
emigration  began.  It  was  in  1907  that  Mr. 
Shedd  wrote,  *'The  Legal  Board  of  our  native 
church  had  during  the  spring  and  winter  an 
unusually  large  number  of  cases  and  we  had 


76  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

some  success  in  collecting  fees  for  work  done. 
The  most  annoying  cases  in  themselves  and 
the  most  serious  as  a  symptom  of  social  degen- 
eration were  the  divorce  suits.  The  long  suffer- 
ing wives,  so  many  of  whose  husbands  have 
been  unfaithful  to  them  during  their  long  ab- 
sences from  home  in  Russia,  seldom  ask  for 
divorce.  But  in  not  a  few  cases  the  husbands 
have  gotten  divorces  without  good  cause  from 
Nestorian  or  Orthodox  bishops.  If  opposed, 
such  cases  inevitably  go  into  the  Moslem  courts 
and  it  is  very  hard  and  unsatisfactory  work  to 
attempt  to  get  a  Moslem  court  to  do  justice 
to  a  wronged  wife.  Raising  the  issue  may  be 
worth  while,  even  if  justice  cannot  be  secured." 
There  was  one  particular  class  of  cases  that 
was  the  source  of  frequent  trouble  and  the 
English,  French,  Russian  and  American  Mis- 
sions were  approached  on  this  matter  of 
''Jadad  ul  Islam''  with  the  hope  that  they 
might  be  able  to  influence  the  Persian  govern- 
ment to  do  something.  According  to  tradi- 
tional Persian  law,  a  Christian  who  is  con- 
verted to  Islam  may  claim  the  inheritance  of 
all  relatives  within  seven  degrees  of  kinship. 
That  is,  a  Christian  who  becomes  a  Moham- 
medan has  the  right  to  inherit  the  property  of 
his   Christian  relatives,   superseding  parents, 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         77 

children,  brothers  and  sisters,  cousins  and  other 
relatives,  to  the  seventh  generation.  In  prac- 
tice this  law  was  never  rigorously  enforced,  hut 
it  furnished  the  basis  of  lawsuits  often  result- 
ing in  injustice  and  loss  to  Christians. 

During  the  reign  of  His  Imperial  Majesty, 
Nasr-ed-Din  Shah,  at  the  request  of  the  Ar- 
menian Bishop  in  Tabriz,  an  order  was  issued 
that  converts  to  Islam  should  inherit  no  more 
from  Christian  relatives  than  they  were  en- 
titled to  under  the  ordinary  laws  of  inheri- 
tance. Afterwards,  at  the  request  of  Dr. 
Cochran,  His  Imperial  Majesty,  Mohammed 
Ali  Shah,  issued  a  similar  order  while  he  was 
Vali  Ahd  or  Crown  Prince.  These  orders 
mitigated  the  evil  but  did  not  abolish  it  and 
whenever  such  cases  were  brought  up,  the  civil 
officials  seized  their  opportunity  for  exacting 
bribes.  As  a  rule  the  claimant,  too,  made  de- 
mands as  a  condition  for  his  giving  a  quit-claim 
or  legal  document,  and  there  was  nothing  to  pre- 
vent the  same  case  being  brought  up  repeatedly. 

In  the  summer  of  1905,  the  greatest  loss, 
humanly  speaking,  that  could  befall  the  Mis- 
sion, came  in  the  death  of  Dr.  Cochran,  from 
typhoid  fever.  For  twenty-five  years  he  had 
been  in  charge  of  the  medical  work  of  the  sta- 
tion.    The  son  of  a  missionary,  and  born  in 


78  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

the  country,  he  held  a  place  of  peculiar  influ- 
ence and  power.  His  fame  as  a  physician  had 
spread  through  Persia  and  far  beyond  her  bor- 
ders. His  ability  as  a  diplomat,  his  fairness 
and  wisdom  in  the  Legal  Board,  his  tact, 
gentleness  and  good  judgment  in  Mission 
affairs,  made  him  indispensable  to  the  com- 
munity. But  it  was  Dr.  Cochran,  the  man  and 
friend,  who  was  so  greatly  beloved  and  trusted 
by  all  races  and  classes  of  that  region.  The 
story  of  his  life  is  told  in  "The  Foreign  Doctor" 
by  Robert  E.  Speer.  It  seemed  that  the  work 
of  the  station  could  not  go  on  without  him  and 
to  each  individual  came  a  sense  of  personal  loss 
and  a  realization  of  how  much  he  had  leaned 
on  him  for  sympathy  and  advice.  To  none  of 
his  associates  did  it  mean  more  than  to  Mr. 
Shedd,  for  in  the  division  of  Dr.  Cochran's 
work,  the  responsibility  for  the  Legal  Board 
and  the  position  of  station  representative  with 
the  government  was  assigned  to  him.  He  now 
began  a  new  phase  of  his  missionary  service. 
That  he  felt  the  responsibilities  of  his  new 
tasks  is  evidenced  in  a  letter  written  at  the 
time:  "The  Station  felt  that  I  ought  to  look 
after  political  affairs  as  far  as  possible.  It  is 
important  to  have  our  own  people  settle  their 
own  disputes  and  the  Legal  Board  will  need 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         79 

the  confidence  that  can  be  gained  only  by  one 
of  us  taking  part  in  it.  I  know  a  great  deal 
will  be  done  badly,  especially  in  comparison 
with  the  past.  A  very  large  part  of  the  work 
done  by  Dr.  Cochran  must  stop.  It  was  a 
special  work  due  to  his  special  influence.  I 
don't  think  that  College  or  Theological  train- 
ing has  helped  me  much  in  these  matters. 
Sometimes  I  think  I  should  like  to  take  up 
a  course  in  reading  Law." 

The  experience  of  the  years  that  followed 
justified  his  appointment  to  these  tasks.  The 
political  and  legal  or  dewankhana  work  greatly 
increased,  largely  due  to  disturbed  political 
conditions. 

It  was  in  March  1904  that  the  Station  expe- 
rienced a  terrible  tragedy  in  the  murder  of 
Rev.  Benjamin  W.  Labaree,  while  on  a  jour- 
ney two  days  from  Urumia.  Mr.  Labaree  was 
the  victim  of  a  plot  instigated  by  the  Moham- 
medan ecclesiastics  of  Urumia  to  kill  Dr.  Cochr 
ran,  who,  representing  the  American  Mission, 
in  conjunctioti  with  the  English  Mission,  had 
pressed  the  matter  of  the  punishment  of  a  sayid 
for  the  unprovoked  murder  of  a  Syrian  who 
was  a  British  subject.  A  sayid,  being  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Mohammed,  is  considered  so 
holy  as  to  be  immune  from  the  penalty  of  his 


80  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

crimes,  and  the  attempt  to  have  him  brought 
to  justice  had  aroused  strong  resentment 
among  the  Mohammedan  ecclesiastical  class. 
As  there  was  no  American  consul  in  Persia,  a 
British  consul  was  kept  in  Urumia  for  many 
months  for  the  management  of  the  case.  In 
the  following  December  Dr.  Thomas  Norton, 
American  Consul  at  Harpoot,  Turkey,  arrived 
in  Urumia  as  special  commissioner  for  the 
American  Government.  He  was  compelled  to 
leave  before  the  settlement  of  the  case  which 
dragged  on  for  more  than  three  years  and  much 
of  the  responsibility  fell  upon  Dr.  Cochran 
and  later  upon  Mr.  Shedd,  as  Station  repre- 
sentatives. For  a  long  time  there  was  much 
uncertainty  in  the  political  situation  and 
anxiety  for  the  safety  of  the  missionaries  and 
the  Christian  community. 

The  Persian  Revolution,  which  began  in 
Teheran,  soon  reached  Urumia,  and  what  was 
at  first  a  general  unrest  became  an  active  pro- 
test against  the  prevailing  order  of  political 
corruption,  feudal  oppression,  and  despotic  in- 
justice. The  people,  following  the  lead  of 
Teheran  and  Tabriz,  demanded  a  representa- 
tive government.  An  anjuman  or  council  of 
the  people,  was  formed  in  which  were  repre- 
sented the  various  classes  of  society.     The 


A  GROUP  OF  NOTABLES,  MULLAHS,  MERCHANTS  AND  LANDED  GENTRY, 
ATTENDING  THE  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION 
REGIEME  AT  URUMIA,  1908 


'^MW^ 


FOREIGN  DIPLOMXi^     ^  Nj,   UJ. PRESENTATION  AND  PER>!  ■  i  i  -    \T 

THE  BIRTHDAY  CELEimATION  OF  MUHAMMED  ALI  SHAH,  MAY.   190S 
(dr.  SHEDD  IN  WINDOW  AT  THE  RIGHT) 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         81 

movement,  though  unexpected,  was  popular 
and  patriotic,  intellectual  as  well  as  political. 
It  was  inevitable  that  such  a  revolution  among 
a  people  to  whom  the  idea  of  representative 
government  was  so  foreign  and  for  which  they 
were  wholly  unprepared,  should  lead  through 
anarchy  and  chaos  to  collapse.  The  granting 
of  the  Constitution  by  the  Shah  was  celebrated 
in  Urumia  by  the  illumination  of  the  bazaars, 
where  large  crowds  gathered  full  of  enthusiasm 
for  the  new  day  that  had  dawned  for  Iran. 
Mullahs  and  sayids  were  enthusiastically  talk- 
ing of  liberty  and  equality,  with  little  concep- 
tion of  their  meaning,  but  the  road  between 
Oriental  despotism  and  democracy  is  not 
traveled  in  a  day  nor  in  a  generation.  A 
society  soaked  in  vice  and  corruption,  bound 
by  the  chains  of  ignorance  and  superstition, 
and  controlled  by  religious  fanaticism  is  not  a 
fertile  soil  for  the  propagation  of  democratic 
ideas  and  their  practical  demonstration.  Un- 
fortunately those  who  held  the  greatest  power 
in  their  hands  were  not  those  who  were  most 
enlightened  nor  those  who  were  most  sincere  in 
desiring  liberty,  for  the  situation  was  largely, 
controlled  by  mullahs  and  sayids.  Wlien  the 
question  of  the  rights  of  the  Christian  subjects 
of  Persia  came  up,  it  was  openly  claimed  by 


82  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

the  anjuman,  in  which  mullahs  were  promi- 
nent, that  the  religious  law  of  Islam  should  be 
strictly  enforced.  The  anjuman  opposed  by 
the  old  regime,  but  supported  by  popular 
favor,  for  a  while  controlled  the  political  situa- 
tion, but  in  the  end  wrought  its  own  destruc- 
tion through  avarice  and  general  depravity. 

Fidais,  or  devotees,  organized  with  parades 
of  armed  men,  drill  and  political  meetings. 
There  were  popular  organizations  composed 
of  representatives  of  the  bazaar,  shopkeepers, 
artisans,  porters  and  the  hke.  Each  organiza- 
tion demanded  a  share  in  the  government  which 
was  divided  among  the  Governor,  anjumarij 
leaders  of  the  fidais,  and  representatives  of  the 
trades.  Sometimes  the  Governor  by  exercising 
great  tact  in  keeping  on  speaking  terms  with 
the  various  elements  was  able  to  retain  some 
of  his  authority.  Sometimes  there  was  no 
government  at  all,  with  disorder  and  crime 
uncontrolled  and  constant  danger  from  mobs. 

An  interesting  episode  in  the  progress  of 
revolution  in  Urumia  in  the  spring  of  1909  was 
the  arrest  of  the  Governor  by  a  Nationalist 
leader  who  entered  the  city  by  night,  sent  the 
Governor  away  a  prisoner,  established  him- 
self in  power,  though  he  had  but  a  small  hand- 
ful of  men,  and  for  a  few  weeks  reigned  su- 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         83 

preme  while  he  exacted  large  sums  of  money 
from  the  wealthy  Persians.  At  the  fitting  mo- 
ment he  departed  with  his  followers  in  the 
night  as  he  had  come.  A  few  months  later 
the  exiled  Governor  returned  with  a  guard  of 
fidais. 

To  make  the  situation  more  serious,  the 
Turks  appeared  on  the  border,  pressing  their 
claims  to  that  region.  The  Kurds  made  the 
best  of  the  chaotic  conditions,  attacking  scores 
of  Persian  villages,  killing  and  plundering, 
unrestrained  by  the  Turks.  The  Turks  ad- 
vanced until  practically  the  whole  country 
west  of  Urumia  Lake  was  in  their  hands.  A 
Persian  army  sent  against  the  Kurds  was 
attacked  by  a  Turkish  force  and  put  to  flight 
without  resistance.  A  Persian  general  once 
exclaimed  on  a  similar  occasion,  "How  val- 
iantly the  Persians  would  fight  if  there  were 
no  dying!" 

Large  numbers  of  refugees  from  the  Chris- 
tian villages  along  the  border  fled  to  Urumia. 
Then  as  the  Kurds  attacked  the  Urumia  vil- 
lages, the  helpless  Persian  Government  gave 
rifles  to  the  Christians  to  defend  themselves 
from  the  attacking  Kurds.  The  people  turned 
to  the  Missions  for  protection,  and  Mr.  Shedd 
representing  the  American  Mission  found  it 


84}  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

necessary  to  give  much  of  his  time  and  in- 
fluence to  the  saving  of  Hfe  and  property  and 
securing  justice  for  the  suffering  people. 
There  were  times  of  peril  to  the  Mission 
though  there  was  no  anti-foreign  or  anti-Chris- 
tian feehng  in  particular.  A  boundary  com- 
mission was  appointed  by  Turkey  and  Persia 
but  nothing  was  accomplished. 

During  these  turbulent  times  Mr.  Shedd 
was  brought  more  prominently  into  political 
matters  than  he  desired  and  he  longed  to  be 
free  to  give  more  time  to  building  up  the  Mos- 
lem educational  work.  The  policy  of  our  Mis- 
sion was  to  keep  out  of  politics  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, but  that  was  sometimes  unavoidable  as 
for  instance  in  relation  to  oin*  press  which  was 
the  only  one  able  to  do  Persian  printing  in 
large  quantity.  Requests  for  printing  came 
from  various  political  factions.  The  anjuman 
wanted  to  print  a  proclamation  on  its  inaugu- 
ration. This  was  refused  until  the  order  was 
signed  by  the  Governor.  Later  a  newspaper 
was  started  which  the  supporters  wanted 
printed  on  the  Mission  press,  but  until  a  letter 
from  the  proper  Persian  official  stating  that 
liberty  of  press  had  been  granted,  it  could  not 
be  undertaken.  Often  it  was  difficult  to  know 
who  really  represented  the  Government  and 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         85 

frequently  the  first  difficulty  was  that  no  one 
could  be  found  with  whom  to  deal. 

The  legal  work  was  increasing  and  it  was 
most  important  that  disputes  between  Chris- 
tians be  settled  in  the  Legal  Board  and  not 
be  mixed  up  in  the  corrupt  and  unreliable  Per- 
sian courts.  The  French  and  Russian  Missions 
had  established  similar  courts  and  each  com- 
munit}^  had  its  own  civil  head  or  millatbashee 
and  legal  difficulties  were  greatly  increased 
by  these  rival  courts  of  the  various  Missions. 
Some  of  the  leading  Syrians,  chiefly  Protes- 
tants, under  Mr.  Shedd's  advice,  tried  to  elimi- 
nate denominational  divisions  in  civil  affairs, 
but  were  not  successful. 

"The  worst  thing  about  my  dewankhana 
work,"  wrote  Mr.  Shedd  to  a  friend,  "is  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  bring  anything  to  a 
close.  The  Government,  the  people,  every- 
body, have  neither  the  idea  nor  the  capability 
of  decisiveness.  If  I  were  an  autocrat  in 
Persia,  I  should  wish  a  small  but  effective 
army.  Then  I  should  try  to  bring  about  two 
reforms.  One  would  be  the  gradual  introduc- 
tion of  religious  liberty  and  the  other  would 
be  the  establishment  of  courts  whose  decisions 
would  be  final,  except  by  appeal  in  certain 
cases  to  a  higher  court.    The  worst  kind  of  de- 


86  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

cisions,  if  really  decisive,  would  be  better  than 
the  present  uncertainty  on  every  decision.  It 
seems  to  me  that  religious  liberty  is  necessary, 
not  only  in  order  that  people  get  truth  instead 
of  error,  but  also  in  order  that  the  sapping  of 
all  integrity  of  character  by  professing  what  is 
not  believed  may  be  stopped.  I  don't  believe 
that  honesty  in  anything  will  be  possible  as 
long  as  deceit  in  religion  is  practiced  so  gen- 
erally as  is  the  case  in  Persia.  But  we  will  see 
what  God  has  in  store.  He  is  certainly  work- 
ing in  ways  that  are  marvelous. 

"So  far,  to  an  extent  that  surprises  me,  I  am 
able  to  keep  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and 
so  I  hear  various  sides  of  the  same  thing.  I 
suppose  that  these  questions  of  law  and  politics 
are  part  of  my  destined  work,  but  they  are  not 
my  choice.  We  don't  really  wish  to  be  people 
of  importance,  but  we  are  looked  up  to  as  for- 
eigners very  much,  in  actual  truth  and  not  in 
flattery.  They  have  an  exaggerated  idea  of 
what  we  can  do  through  our  governments.  All 
we  can  do  is  to  be  the  simple  reporters  of  facts 
as  they  actually  exist.  I  often  wish  that  Dr. 
Cochran  were  still  here  in  charge  of  these 
affairs,  but  perhaps  the  Good  Lord  knew  that 
he  was  weary  enough  of  them  and  lovingly 
wished  to  give  him  rest.     I  am  discouraged 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         8T 

about  the  quality  of  my  work.  It  is  hard 
enough  not  to  be  envious  of  others  who  can 
specialize  and  limit  their  work,  but  perhaps 
we  are  called  sometimes  to  do  second-class 
work,  not  to  be  satisfied  with  it,  just  to  do  our 
best  and  let  it  rest. 

*'It  has  been  remarked  by  the  Russian  Con- 
sul and  others  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  for- 
eigner, even  a  missionary,  to  divest  his  actions 
of  political  significance  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  I  am  sure  that  in  Urumia  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  is  taken  by  our  Mission  to  avoid 
mixing  in  political  matters,  and  that  we  should 
rejoice  to  be  rid  of  any  political  reputation. 
It  cannot  be  denied  in  any  case  that  the  cause 
we  represent  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  country 
in  which  we  live,  and  that  we  cannot  be  free 
and  comfortable  in  the  midst  of  such  confusion 
as  has  prevailed  all  about  us. 

"I  am  afraid  that  I  will  become  morally 
hardened.  One  sees  so  many  people  that  are 
wrong  one  way  or  another,  and  has  to  deal 
with  them.  But  what  can  one  do?  It  is  only 
in  this  way  that  good  can  come  in  effectual 
contact  with  the  bad. 

"Friday  I  was  tackling  the  family  and 
divorce  problems  in  two  concrete  cases.  The 
matter  of  banking  and  bankruptcy  also  gives 


88  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

me  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  and  so  I  might  go  on. 
I  keep  on  having  it  impressed  upon  me  that 
back  of  all  questions,  as  an  important  factor, 
is  the  element  of  moral  character,  and  there 
religion  makes  or  mars.  Efforts  to  eliminate 
religion  as  a  factor  have  accomplished  so  little 
that  their  influence  is  negligible,  except  as  they 
influence  the  character  of  religion.  The  King- 
dom of  God  and  the  really  beneficent  political 
order  are  nearly  the  same  thing,  I  think." 

It  was  the  coming  of  the  Russians  that  re- 

/   stored  order,  and  their  position  in  the  Urumia 

region  is  shown  in  a  letter  of  Mr.   Shedd's 

wi'itten  after  they  had  become  well  established: 

"The  Russians  will  not  withdraw  until  there 
is  a  government  strong  enough  to  keep  order. 
No  strong  man  has  appeared  anywhere  in 
Persia,  much  less  the  elements  of  a  strong 
government.  One  may  guess  that  neither 
Russia  nor  Turkey  was  anxious  for  a  speedy 
definition  of  the  boundary.  In  name  the  Per- 
sian Government  goes  on  as  a  whole,  with 
the  same  methods  that  disgraced  the  past, 
but  with  an  important  difference.  There 
is  in  the  country  a  power  to  which  all  Per- 
sian authority  and  all  Persians  must  bow — 
Russia,  represented  by  three  branches  of 
the  government,  the  Ministry  of  War,  the 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         89 

Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  Holy 
Synod.  In  most  affairs  the  Russian  Con- 
sul is  the  supreme  authority  and  on  occasion 
does  not  hesitate  to  exercise  authority  without 
the  mediation  of  the  Persian  authorities.  A 
hint  from  him  is  more  effectual  than  an  order 
from  the  Persian  Government,  and  the  former 
is  often  the  cause  of  the  latter,  Next  to  the 
Russian  Consul,  the  Turkish  Consul  is  the 
most  powerful  official  here.  The  Russian  Mis- 
sion represents  the  Holy  Synod  and  as  such 
is  only  partially  subordinate  to  the  Consul. 
Indeed,  the  impression  here  is  that  there  is  no 
one  who  does  not  stand  in  awe  of  the  Archi- 
mandrite, the  head  of  the  Russian  Mission,  j 
It  is  difficult  for  Protestants,  and  advising 
or  aiding  them  is  a  difficult  and  delicate 
matter.  A  perplexing  element  in  the  situa- 
tion here  is  the  relation  I  hold  to  the  nat- 
m^alized  American  citizens.  Most  of  them 
are  very  respectable  persons  and  give  little 
trouble  to  any  one,  but  occasionally  even  the 
best  of  them  have  troubles.  Of  course  I  hold 
no  official  or  even  semi-official  position,  but 
some  one  has  to  be  the  spokesman  with  the 
authorities  and  the  correspondent  with  the 
American  Consul.  [The  first  American  Con- 
sul arrived  in  Tabriz  in  February,  1907.] 


90  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

"I  should  like  to  state  the  principles  by  which 
I  try  to  guide  my  conduct.  In  the  first  place, 
Persian  law  and  Mohammedan  law  in  general 
-admit  the  principle  that  each  'Millatf  or  relig- 
ious sect,  has  its  own  law  and  has  the  right  to 
be  judged  by  it.  This  law  includes  a  large 
variety  of  subjects,  and  in  Persia,  at  least, 
there  is  no  definite  line  between  the  Christian 
law  and  the  law  of  the  land.  This  gives  the 
Protestant  community  certain  rights  which 
are  vested  in  the  Legal  Board.  The  Board  and 
the  Protestant  community  have  been  recog- 
nized by  the  Persian  Government.  My  posi- 
tion is  as  representative  of  this  body,  rather 
than  of  the  American  Mission,  though  the  two 
aspects  of  the  matter  are  not  distinguished  by 
the  Persian  authorities.  On  the  part  of  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  the  Russian  Orthodox 
Missions,  there  is  little  effort  to  make  this  dis- 
tinction, but  we  should  try  to  emphasize  the 
rights  of  the  Church.  This  is  important  in 
view  of  the  increasing  Russian  influence.  The 
Evangelical  Church  has,  before  the  law  of  Rus- 
sia, more  stable  rights  than  a  foreign  mission. 

"A  second  principle  is  that  we  have  a  duty 
to  use  personal  influence  to  secure  justice. 
This  must  be  done  with  the  greatest  caution 
and  with  the  distinct  disclaimer  of  any  author- 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         91 

ity  on  our  part.  Such  cases  are  constantly 
arising  and  Moslems  as  well  as  Christians  are 
appealing  to  us  for  help.  The  rule  should  be 
to  avoid  interference,  but  the  rule  has  excep- 
tions. The  Legal  Board  is  careful  to  say  that 
it  does  not  assume  the  responsibility  for  the 
execution  of  its  decisions,  only  for  their  con- 
formity .to  law  and  justice." 

Such  was  the  political  situation  in  Urumia 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  World  War.  When 
Mr.  Shedd  first  assumed  the  duties  of  the  Legal 
Board  and  Mission  representative  with  the 
government,  it  was  with  great  reluctance  and 
with  the  purpose  of  giving  to  that  work  as  little 
of  his  time  and  thought  as  circumstances  would 
permit,  but  the  unusual  social  and  political 
conditions  which  prevailed  in  Urumia  made  it 
increasingly  imperative  that  some  one  with  the 
ability,  fairness,  and  influence  to  command  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  all  parties  should 
be  able  to  speak  in  the  name  of  justice  and 
righteousness.  Not  only  Christians  came  to 
him  for  judgment  and  protection,  but  also 
Mohammedans  who  could  not  trust  their  own 
leaders. 

He  became  a  student  of  Persian  law  and 
acquainted  with  Oriental  character  and  ways 
of  thinking,  and  as  conditions  of  life  grew  from 


92  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

bad  to  worse  and  Persian  governmental  author- 
ity became  practically  nil,  he  gained  in  power 
and  leadership. 

"Interested  and  marvelously  informed  and 
farsighted  in  politics,  so  wise  and  quick  to  see 
both  and  all  sides  of  a  question,"  writes  an 
Anglican  friend,  "he  was  certainly  an  arbi- 
trator of  power  and  wisdom  above  any  other 
— most  extraordinarily  impartial  and  disinter- 
ested. But  to  my  mind  he  was  above  all  else 
the  minister  of  God,  a  teacher  instinct  with 
love  and  grace  and  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  whom 
Christ  so  dwelt  that  all  of  self,  or  party,  or 
sect,  was  over-ridden." 

"His  leadership  was  convincing  rather  than 
superficially  magnetic;  he  commanded  confi- 
dence through  the  cogency  of  his  reasoning. 
There  was  something  in  his  reserve  that  carried 
conviction.  At  the  same  time  his  leadership 
was  thoroughly  democratic.  He  did  not  stand 
on  his  superior  knowledge  or  experience  but 
talked  things  over  freely  and  simply  even  with 
the  youngest  of  his  associates,"  says  one  of 
them.  "His  leadership  in  the  Mission  and  in 
the  community  was  by  the  right  of  intellectual 
grasp  backed  by  character." 

A  judicious  mind,  a  statesmanlike  grasp  of 
a  situation,  the  ability  to  see  clearly  and  quickly 


LEGAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORK         93 

the  real  issue  at  stake,  the  greatness  and  mag- 
nanimity to  ignore  littleness  and  selfishness  in 
others,  the  tact  and  sympathetic  understand- 
ing which  often  enabled  him  to  carry  even  his 
opponent  with  him,  his  reasonableness,  his  ab- 
solute integrity  and  impartiality;  these  were 
the  qualities  which  made  him  the  man  for  the 
times  and  gave  him  a  position  of  power  and 
influence  in  Northwest  Persia  that  seldom  1 1 
comes  to  one  man. 


CHAPTER  V:  EDUCATIONAL  AND 
MOHAMMEDAN  WORK 

During  all  of  his  missionary  career,  Mr. 
Shedd  was  engaged  in  educational  work ;  after 
his  father's  death  taking  the  place  of  leader- 
ship in  theological  teaching  and  much  of  the 
time  in  the  College.  He  had  served  as  super- 
intendent of  village  schools  and  as  member  of 
the  Educational  Board  of  the  Evangelical 
Church,  so  that  his  influence  was  felt  in  every 
department  of  the  educational  work. 

Through  all  the  history  of  the  Mission  in 
Urumia,  efforts  had  been  made  to  reach  Mo- 
hammedans, but  it  was  not  until  the  fall  of 
1904  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  the  opening 
of  a  school  for  Moslem  boys.  Mr.  Shedd  was 
chiefly  instrumental  in  the  establishment  of 
this  school,  though  other  missionaries  were  as- 
sociated with  him. 

The  opening  of  the  school  was  a  great  event ; 
there  had  never  been  anything  like  it  in  Uru- 
mia, and  it  rapidly  increased  in  numbers  and 
influence.  JMr.  Shedd  was  in  charge  and  it 
was  his  purpose  to  make  it  a  positive  mission- 

94 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  95 

ary  force.  He  rejoiced  in  the  opportunity  it 
afforded  to  form  new  friendships  and  to  learn 
to  use  more  freely  the  Turkish  language,  the 
common  language  of  Urumia.  He  made 
many  calls,  especially  in  the  homes  of  the  boys, 
and  found  it  hard,  exacting  work  to  get  at  any- 
thing beyond  generalities  and  secularities. 
"For  such  work  one  needs  to  be  filled  even 
more  than  in  more  directly  and  ostensibly  re- 
ligious work,"  he  wrote. 

The  boys,  from  six  to  eighteen,  came  from 
all  classes  of  society,  a  considerable  number 
from  the  families  of  the  highest  nobility,  a 
larger  number  from  families  of  lower  rank  who 
were  rising  in  the  social  scale  because  of  en- 
ergy, and  a  few  from  poor  families.  The  son 
of  the  nobleman,  the  merchant,  the  dervish, 
the  son  of  a  servant  or  day  laborer,  and  some- 
times even  a  young  sayid,  could  be  seen  sitting 
side  by  side. 

"The  restraint  in  the  matter  of  oaths,  and 
insistence  on  truthfulness,  is  something  that  is 
immediately  remarked  by  the  boys.  We  hear 
of  one  boy  giving  his  father  lessons  on  the  sub- 
ject of  oaths.  The  acquaintance  with  West- 
ern science,  the  close  association  with  Christian 
teachers,  the  order  of  a  Christian  school,  and 
much  that  can  be  said  and  done  by  the  teach- 


f 


96  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

ers  in  the  innumerable  opportunities  of  school 
life,  are  influences  that  cannot  be  without  re- 
sult. With  these  we  must  join  the  power  of 
prayer." 

"It  is  a  comment  on  the  externality  of  Islam 
that  parents  are  willing  enough  to  have  their 
boys  under  the  constant  instruction  of  Chris- 
tian teachers,  but  are  nervously  afraid  lest  they 
should  be  contaminated  by  drinking  water  that 
has  been  poured  into  jars  by  Christian  hands. 
Happily  we  are  able  to  give  guarantee  on  this 
point,"  wrote  Mr.  Shedd. 

The  school  was  at  first  opened  in  a  small 
yard  near  the  City  Compound,  and  later  a  fine 
property  containing  three  and  a  half  acres, 
within  the  city  walls,  was  purchased.  This 
property  was  known  as  "Sardari."  After  a 
few  years,  when  the  school  was  well  estab- 
lished, it  was  united  with  the  College  under 
the  name  "American  School."  Mr.  Shedd  was 
largely  responsible  for  this  union  of  the  Chris- 
tion  and  Mohammedan  educational  work 
which  proved  a  great  blessing  to  the  whole 
community,  bringing  Christians,  Jews,  and 
Mohammedans  together  in  friendly  relations 
on  a  basis  of  equality,  teaching  mutual  appre- 
ciation and  breaking  down  religious  and  racial 
barriers. 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  97 

The  educational  work  for  Moslems  encoun- 
tered difficulties,  but  the  school  held  its  own 
and  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  the  com- 
munity. There  was  a  time  during  the  Revo- 
lution that  the  anjuman^  or  representative 
council,  threatened  to  close  it.  Mr.  Shedd 
replied  that  he  would  close  it,  but  would  let  it 
be  known  that  it  was  closed  by  order  of  the 
anjuman.  It  was  very  popular  to  be  progres- 
sive at  that  time  and  the  order  for  its  closing 
was  never  given,  while  some  of  the  leaders 
took  trouble  to  tell  him  how  much  the  school 
was  appreciated. 

The  babel  of  languages  was  the  most  diffi- 
cult pedagogical  problem  and  taxed  the  cur- 
riculum and  the  daily  program  to  the  limit. 
French,  English,  Russian,  Arabic,  Syriac, 
Turkish  and  Armenian  were  taught.  Because 
of  the  language  difficulty,  it  w^as  necessary  to 
teach  the  elementary  classes  separately,  the 
Syrians  being  taught  in  Syriac  at  the  College, 
and  the  Persians  in  Turkish  at  Sardari.  The 
upper  classes  were  united  at  the  latter  place. 

In  the  report  of  1912  Mr.  Shedd  sets  forth 
his  ideas  of  the  aims  of  the  educational  work: 
"Since  the  Station  has  seen  fit  to  entrust  to 
me  the  leadership  of  this  educational  work  at 
a  time  when  there  are  especially  important 


98  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

questions  of  policy  to  be  determined,  it  may 
be  suitable  to  state  briefly  what  seems  to  me 
to  be  the  cardinal  points  in  that  policy. 

"I  should  define  the  special  aim  of  this  work 
to  be,  (1)  the  training  of  Christian  evangel- 
^  istic  workers  for  Persia,  (2)  through  our 
pupils  and  through  the  general  influence  of 
the  school  to  build  up  the  Christian  community 
in  this  region  and  particularly  the  Evangelical 
Church  and  (3)  to  exert  deep  Christian  in- 
fluence on  the  Christless  community  about  us 
/-       and  particularly  on  the  non-Christian  pupils. 

"I  should  say  that  the  special  service  under 
God  that  we  can  do  for  Persia  in  our  schools 
is  in  the  training  up  of  native  evangelistic 
workers.  Unless  we  do  this  we  must  condemn 
ourselves  to  failure  in  our  special  mission.  .  .  . 
And  no  higher  aim  can  possibly  be  set  before 
educational  workers. 

"Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  aim  of 
contributing  directly  and  efliciently  to  the 
strength  of  the  evangelical  community  about 
us,  including  the  evangelical  element  in  the 
Old  Nestorian  Church.  The  separate  Protes- 
tant community  has  a  difficult  battle  before 
it.  It  must  not  be  a  battle  for  hfe  but  one 
for  conquest  and  there  must  be  a  spirit  of  ag- 
gression.    The    base    must    be    strengthened 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  99 

in  building  up  a  community  of  industrial 
efficiency,  moral  excellence  and  sturdy  intel- 
ligence; while  the  dominating  aim  of  wide 
evangelistic  service  must  permeate  the  com- 
munity. The  revivals  of  more  than  sixty 
years  ago  that  were  the  glad  birth-throes  of 
this  evangelical  body  began  among  the  students 
of  that  day  in  the  old  seminary  at  Seir.  We 
cannot  lay  down  the  lines  of  the  Spirit's  activ- 
ity nor  determine  our  part  in  His  work,  but 
we  can  and  must  expect  to  have  a  large  share 
in  this  work.  It  is  necessary  also  to  consider 
the  social  and  industrial  problems.  .  .  . 

"Thirdly,  the  only  way  in  which  the  Mission 
will  reach  its  maximum  efficiency  in  evangel- 
izing non-Christians  is  to  make  every  part  and 
agency  of  its  work  evangelistic.  This  applies 
to  ours  as  much  as  to  any  other  department. 
Everywhere,  but  especially  in  school  work,  it 
is  true  that  Christian  evangelization  is  primar- 
ily the  influence  of  the  message  of  Christ 
through  a  person  who  knows  Christ  and  testi- 
fies to  Him.  Hence  the  essential  element  is 
the  Christian  character  of  the  school.  This 
can  be  maintained  only  by  'prayer  and  fast- 
ing,' the  latter  being  the  limitation  of  our  ef- 
forts and  ambitions. 

"Two   indispensable   conditions   to  success 


100  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

are  pedagogical  efficiency  and  adaptation  to 
existing  circumstances.  The  former  requires 
a  careful  study  of  the  methods  of  education 
and  the  latter  an  equally  careful  study  of  the 
actual  conditions  of  life. 

"We  should  have  faith  to  expect  that  our 
school  will  play  a  part  in  the  evangelization 
of  Persia,  not  only  locally  but  throughout  the 
kingdom  and  beyond  its  borders  greater  than 
it  has  in  the  past  and  commensurate  with  the 
opportunity.     And  the  faith  requires  work." 

The  report  of  the  year  1914!,  the  completion 
of  the  tenth  year  of  the  Moslem  educational 
work,  and  up  to  the  time  when  our  work  was 
greatly  interrupted  by  the  World  War,  shows 
what  has  been  accomplished.  The  closing  ex- 
ercises for  the  Syrian  community  were  held  in 
the  Syriac  language  in  a  large  tent  at  the  Col- 
lege where  the  work  had  been  in  progress  for 
thirty-five  years.  There  was  an  audience 
of  about  a  thousand  from  the  intelligent  Chris- 
tian community  which  had  grown  up  through 
the  years. 

The  closing  exercises  for  the  Mohammedans 
were  held  in  the  Turkish  language  at  Sardari. 
The  audience  was  representative,  including 
a  number  of  the  principal  nobles,  among 
them  being  the  brother  of  the  Governor  as  his 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  101 

representative,  a  large  number  of  landowners 
and  merchants,  Jews,  Armenians,  Syrians, 
Russians,  and  other  foreigners.  In  the  eve- 
ning there  was  a  banquet  to  celebrate  the  tenth 
anniversary,  planned  by  the  Moslem  alumni, 
at  which  eighty  of  the  "old  boys"  of  the  school 
were  present.  Among  them  were  men  from  the 
Custom-house,  Post-office,  Persian  Cossack 
Brigade,  merchants,  school-teachers  and  others. 
Some  of  the  graduates  were ,  studying  abroad 
in  Switzerland,  Paris,  and  in  the  United 
States.  The  "old  boys"  were  the  best  adver- 
tisement the  school  had. 

"This  time  is  one  of  transition,"  said  Mr. 
Shedd,  "and  it  is  not  easy  to  acconmiodate  our 
methods  to  the  requirements  of  the  time  or  to 
see  clearly  or  with  unanimity  what  those  re- 
quirements are.  Some  of  our  best  pupils, 
including  two  members  of  the  graduating 
class,  were  taken  from  school  by  their  parents 
because  of  the  religious  influence  of  the  school. 
The  attitude  of  our  school  to  religion  has  been 
a  matter  of  common  discussion.  One  cannot 
wonder  that  this  matter  is  discussed  and  that 
parents  are  perplexed.  We  say  that  in  our 
opinion,  morals  cannot  be  enforced  without 
religious  sanctions  and  that  the  facts  of 
Christian  history  and  Christian  morality  are 


102  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

essential  elements  in  modern  education.  We 
say,  further,  and  I  have  found  no  one  to 
contradict  it,  that  in  this  time  of  increased  dis- 
belief in  all  reUgion  there  is  no  one  fitted  in 
any  way  among  Mohammedans  to  meet  sym- 
pathetically and  frankly  the  doubts  of  young 
men  and  that  it  is  our  duty  to  do  this.  All 
this  and  more  is  said,  and  we  make  our  position 
clear  in  practice  as  well  as  in  words ;  but  after 
all,  to  men  who  believe  in  Islam  it  must  be  a 
serious  question  how  they  can  place  their  boj^s 
in  an  avowedly  Christian  school. 

*'Our  schools  do  not  cast  off  the  culture  of 
the  East,  but  they  complete  and  inspire  it  with 
a  new  spirit.  May  the  American  school  here, 
with  its  more  than  two  hundred  boys  of  differ- 
ent nationalities  and  religions,  give  them  those 
ideals  and  aspirations  which  only  Christ  can 
fulfill." 

In  the  American  School,  with  its  large  corps 
of  teachers,  both  Christian  and  Moslem,  as  in 
other  lines  of  work,  Mr.  Shedd  displayed  one 
of  the  great  qualities  of  his  leadership,  i-n  that 
while  he  led,  he  appreciated  those  who  labored 
with  him,  placing  responsibilities  upon  them 
and  working  harmoniously  with  them,  inspir- 
ing and  justifying  their  confidence. 

A    Syrian,    Rev.    Jacob   David,   who   was 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  103 

closely  associated  with  him  for  thirteen  years, 
says,  "He  always  treated  the  teachers  with  the 
utmost  consideration  and  courtesy.  We  never 
heard  a  single  word  from  his  lips  to  hurt  our 
feelings.  It  was  wonderful  that  he  never  com- 
manded us,  yet  kept  us  working  very  hard. 
He  was  almost  unique  in  his  respect  for  the 
beliefs  and  rights  of  others,  and  that  was  the 
secret  of  his  success  as  an  educator.  The 
teachers  under  such  a  great  man,  worked  not 
grudgingly  nor  of  necessity,  but  willingly  and 
faithfully,  not  for  the  salary  they  received,  but 
for  the  sake  of  the  educational  work  in  which 
Dr.^  Shedd  was  interested.  Whatever  new 
step  or  method  he  suggested,  we  were  ready  to 
follow  him  because  we  believed  in  him  and  he 
was  our  ideal."  After  1911,  Rev.  Hugo  A. 
Muller  was  associated  with  Dr.  Shedd  in  the 
American  School. 

In  his  training  of  young  men  for  the  native 
ministry,  Dr.  Shedd  kept  steadily  before  them 
the  responsibility  of  the  Evangelical  Church 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  Mohammedans, 
and  the  instruction  was  arranged  to  include  a 
study  of  Islam  as  well  as  practical  work.  The 
students  gained  experience  by  going  out  with 
missionaries  and  native  leaders  for  this  work. 

1  In  1907  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  given  him 
by  Marietta  College. 


104!  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Each  was  assigned  preaching  or  other  religious 
duties  on  Sundays  in  the  hospital  or  in  the  vil- 
lages. Frequently  they  were  accompanied  by 
Dr.  Shedd  and  so  learned  at  first  hand  his 
methods  and  caught  something  of  his  vision. 
Certainly  the  young  men  of  later  years  had  a 
clearer  understanding  of  the  greatness  of  the 
problem,  a  deeper  sense  of  responsibility 
toward  the  Moslems,  and  a  more  earnest  zeal 
for  that  service,  because  they  sat  at  the  feet 
of  a  great  teacher.  Said  he,  "If  I  could  only 
see  my  boys  going  out  of  school  here  with 
something  of  the  warrior  spirit!  The  East 
loves  to  lie  down  in  the  sun  and  sleep." 

"The  ideal  should  be,  I  believe,"  he  wrote, 
"toward  the  side  of  our  Christian  boys  to  turn 
out  men  in  spirit  and  equipment,  ready  to  be 
real  missionaries  to  Islam,  and  who  will  stay 
and  build  up,  as  laymen  and  as  preachers,  the 
Christian  community.  On  the  Moslem  side, 
we  ought  to  aim  to  turn  out  men  who  can  fit 
into  life  here  and  to  present  to  them  Chris- 
tianity as  the  working  religion  of  life.  .  .  . 

"It  seems  to  me  that  the  great  influences  we 
can  set  to  work  are  personal  influences,  new 
knowledge  of  and  new  respect  for  Christianity, 
new  ideas  of  the  character  and  knowledge  of 
Christ,  and  these  can  be  imparted  in  no  way 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  105 

so  well  as  by  personal  influence,  and  I  am  sure 
it  pays.  .  .  . 

"I  pray  to  be  delivered  from  restlessness 
and  discontent,  but  I  do  so  regret  being  kept 
from  personal  work." 

His  fitness  and  earnestness  in  this  work  are 
well  attested  by  paragraphs  culled  from  his 
letters:  "Friday,  my  free  day  from  school, 
was  a  busy  one.  In  the  morning,  with  two 
of  our  native  workers,  I  had  a  two  and  a  half 
hour  interview  with  two  Suffi  Mohammedan 
teachers.  One  of  them  is  a  man  of  consider- 
able reputation  in  Tabriz  and  Teheran  and 
other  places,  I  am  told.  The  other  is  a  sort  of 
understudy.  I  hope  to  keep  up  interviews 
with  them,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  their  atti- 
tude toward  Christianity  is  a  factor  worth 
counting.  The  discussion  we  had  was  a  good 
one.  In  the  afternoon  I  had  an  interview  with 
a  strange  case,  a  Moslem  who  believed  he  had 
been  warned  in  a  dream  to  follow  Christ.  He 
may  be  insincere,  but  I  think  not,  and  he  is 
certainly  ignorant.  Next  I  had  a  lecture  in  the 
school  on  American  history ;  most  of  the  school 
boys  were  present  and  a  number  of  others.  I 
hope  we  can  make  occasional  lectures  the  means 
of  interesting  intelligent  people.  In  the  eve- 
ning I  went  to  a  literary  club  of  Armenians 


106  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

and  Syrians  that  I  have  been  able  to  organize. 
Others  are  doing  the  same  kind  of  work  also, 
and  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  we  need  to  do  more 
to  extend  the  sphere  of  om^  personal  influence." 

"I  was  a  good  deal  impressed  by  a  remark 
made  to  me  by  a  young  Moslem  with  whom 
I  walked  out  one  day.  He  said  that  another 
Moslem  had  said,  in  a  company  of  them,  that 
if  there  were  only  one  true  follower  of  Christ 
he  would  take  him,  the  follower,  as  his  prophet, 
camp  at  his  door  like  a  dervish  and  kiss  his 
feet,  but  that  there  was  not  one  such." 

"Last  Sunday  I  went  to  Dizza  and  for  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  or  more  in  a  kahwa,  or 
tea-house,  we  had  a  Socratic  dialogue  with  a 
mullah.  Perhaps  I  should  not  call  it  Socratic, 
as  I  think  that  neither  party  was  trying  to  put 
the  other  in  a  hole.  There  was  an  audience 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  men  from  the  village,  sit- 
ting on  the  raised  shelf  around  the  edge  of  the 
room.  Our  talk  was  all  on  religion  and  was 
all  very  pleasant.  I  managed  m  the  course  of 
it  to  have  my  companion,  a  theological  student, 
read  aloud  all  the  fifth  chapter  of  Matthew  and 
a  number  of  other  verses.  Then  I  had  two 
or  three  talks  with  mullahs  that  interested  me. 
One  of  them  told  me  of  a  definition  of  God 
that  is  quite  good.     They  say  that  Mohammed 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  107 

was  once  asked  by  a  scoffer,  'What  is  God?' 
He  replied  that  when  a  man  is  helpless  and 
alone,  as  a  shipwrecked  man  on  a  plank,  and 
calls  for  help,  God  is  what  man  calls  on.  That 
is,  men  instinctively  and  everywhere  expect 
help  in  need  from  a  higher  power." 

"I  had  an  interesting  afternoon  last  Sunday. 
One  of  the  mountain  boys  has  for  Sundays 
been  going  to  Benda.  I  walked  up  with  him. 
It  was  a  warm,  pleasant  day  and  we  found  a 
crowd  of  about  thirty  in  the  open  space  near 
the  bridge.  I  read  to  them  in  Turkish  the 
sixth  chapter  of  Matthew,  with  some  remarks. 
They  listened  respectfully  and  interestedly. 
On  our  way  back  we  went  over  to  Janizlu, 
where  we  had  a  meeting  in  a  house.  There 
were  about  fifteen  Moslems  and  eight  or  ten 
Syrians,  and  we  had  a  talk  and  prayer  in  Turk- 
ish." 

"I  have  made  several  calls  lately  on  the 
Hadjis  who  have  just  gotten  back  from  Mecca 
and  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  little  they  have 
to  say  of  the  Holy  City  and  how  much  of  the 
sights  along  the  road,  especially  of  the  wonders 
of  Alexandria  and  Cairo. 

"Two  other  calls  I  made  yesterday  were  in- 
teresting to  me.  One  was  on  the  head  of  the 
dervishes  here:     He  was  a  fat,  comfortable- 


108  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

looking  man  whose  father  and  grandfather  and 
ancestry  hack  several  generations,  according 
to  his  statement,  have  been  heads  of  the  der- 
vishes here.  With  him  were  a  lot  of  other 
dervishes  not  so  comfortable  looking  by  any 
means.  I  stayed  about  an  hour  and  they  sang 
to  me  in  honor  of  Ali,  one  song  in  Turkish 
and  one  in  Persian.  The  dervishes  are  of  dif- 
ferent orders  and  yet  they  all  acknowledge  the 
same  local  head  or  Nakib;  they  differ  also  in 
their  behefs.  If  I  can  find  time,  I  w^ould  like 
to  get  better  acquainted  with  some  of  them. 
I  found  that  two  of  them  had  Testaments. 
The  other  call  I  made  was  on  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal and  also  meanest  sayids  in  the  city. 
There  the  head  man  got  to  talking  about  af- 
fairs in  such  a  strain  that  I  asked  him  if  he  had 
a  Testament.  He  had  none,  but  seemed  very 
glad  that  he  could  get  one,  and  I  sent  one  back 
to  him  after  I  got  home.  There  is  a  change 
in  attitude  in  lots  of  these  people." 

"I  had  a  long  walk  with  one  of  the  boys  to 
visit  some  of  the  Moslem  villages.  It  was  not 
so  successful  as  we  hoped  in  a  missionary  way, 
but  ten  miles  or  so  of  walking  in  the  clear  air 
was  fine.  We  came  upon  one  camp  of  men 
working  in  a  limekiln.  They  stopped  to  eat 
their  bread,  and  the  way  they  listened  to  the 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  109 

reading  and  the  reverence  with  which  they 
stood  in  prayer  was  an  inspiration." 

"Yesterday  I  had  an  interesting  discussion 
with  a  sayid  in  the  city  and,  I  beheve,  left  him 
thinking.  He  quoted  a  saying  that  is  very 
Christian,  'The  rich  are  God's  agents,  the  poor 
are  his  children.'  " 

"How   superficially   we  have   reached   the    ^'"  I 
spirit  and  the  mind  of  Persia.     We  must  some 
of  us,  take  time  from  the  grind  and  machinery 
to  get  to  close  quarters  with  people  and  by  ' 

loving  controversy  and  fellowship,  find  out 
their  beliefs  and  their  struggles." 

In  answer  to  the  question  as  to  what  the 
missionary  attitude  should  be  toward  non- 
Christian  religions.  Dr.  Shedd  replied  in  a 
paper  that  makes  clear  his  ideas  and  his  meth- 
ods: "It  seems  to  me  a  distinction  ought  to 
be  made  between  the  attitude  toward  the  indi- 
vidual Moslem  and  toward  Islam,"  he  said. 
"If  we  are  careful  to  be  respectful  and  cour- 
teous in  the  former,  we  can  be  more  aggressive 
in  the  latter.  In  order  to  gain  a  hearing,  it  is 
necessary  to  be  willing  to  give  a  patient  hear- 
ing. In  this  line  comes  the  importance  of  fol- 
lowing Oriental  ideas  of  courtesy  in  the  forms 
of  address  and  in  the  matter  of  referring  to 
the  Prophet  and  to  the  Koran.     One  should 


110  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

always  be  careful  not  to  impugn  the  sincerity 
or  the  intelligence  of  the  Moslem.  If  the 
proper  attitude  is  preserved  toward  individu- 
als, one  can  generally  find  the  way  to  present 
the  Gospel  freely  and  fully.  But  this  is  not 
the  point,  of  course ;  I  do  not  think  that  I  am 
intolerant  and  I  do  not  want  to  minimize  the 
common  ground.  But  one  must  be  sincere 
and  discriminating.  Islam  as  a  system  I  be- 
lieve to  be  an  obstacle  to  social  progress  and 
also  to  honest  religion.  I  cannot  think  it  right 
for  me  to  profess  any  other  attitude  in  reli- 
gious discussion.  It  may  not  be  necessary  for 
me  to  express  my  opinion,  and  it  certainly  is 
not  incumbent  on  me  to  express  it  in  an  offen- 
sive way,  but  in  my  case  I  cannot  honestly  pro- 
fess what  I  do  not  believe.  Perhaps  it  might 
be  put  this  way.  The  truth  that  there  is  in 
Islam  is  not  helped  to  a  useful  expression  by 
the  institutions  and  ordinances  of  the  Moham- 
medan religion;  while  the  error  and  misrepre- 
sentation of  the  truth  which  is  contained  in  the 
system  obscure  the  truth  it  contains.  So  long 
as  this  is  my  belief,  my  real  attitude  is  deter- 
mined, if  I  am  honest  in  my  convictions.  I 
think  that  a  further  distinction  can  be  drawn 
between  the  truth  in  Islam  and  Islam,  or  it  is 
often  between  the  truth  accepted  by  the  person 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  111 

one  is  talking  with  and  Islam;  for  Islam  is  not 
the  only  source  of  religious  knowledge,  nor  are 
all  apparent  Moslems  really  such. 

"The  effort  of  Moslems,  if  they  are  friendly, 
is  to  show  that  the  two  faiths  are  practically 
identical,  and  that  consequently  there  is  no 
superiority  on  the  side  of  Christianity.  It  is 
an  advantage,  of  course,  to  find  common 
ground,  and  the  more  common  ground  one  can 
honestly  discover,  the  better,  provided  one 
does  not  go  beyond  the  common  ground  to  that 
which  is  not  common.  In  fact,  it  has  seemed 
to  me  better  to  allow  not  only  what  the  indi- 
vidual presents  but  all  that  can  with  any  sort 
of  propriety  be  claimed  by  Islam.  In  other 
words,  to  meet  the  strongest  case  that  can  be 
set  up  by  the  INIoslem,  whether  that  case  is 
actually  presented  or  not.  However  allowing 
all  that  can  with  any  propriety  be  allowed  in 
the  way  of  common  ground,  there  is  always  the 
opportunity  to  go  on  and  show  how  the  two 
faiths  differ.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  single 
doctrine  in  which  the  teachings  of  the  two  reli- 
gions are  really  identical.  In  admitting  iden- 
tity, the  danger  is  that  the  truth  of  Christianity 
be  minimized.  For  example,  forgiveness  by 
free  grace  is  fundamental  to  both  religions ;  but 
in  Islam  the  basis  is  God's  absolute  will,  and 


112  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

in  Christianity,  it  is  His  justice  and  righteous- 
ness manifested  in  the  Atonement. 

"To  stop  at  the  common  ground  will  give 
the  impression  that  there  is  no  difference  and 
that  in  Christianity  forgiveness  is  an  act  of 
God's  absolute  will.  One  needs  also  to  dis- 
criminate in  the  use  of  language,  and  not  to 
use  terms  that  imply  what  he  does  not  wish  to 
imply.  The  uselessness  and  worse  than  use- 
lessness  of  casual  conversation  on  religious  and 
moral  topics  is  in  the  fact  that  almost  inevi- 
tably platitudes  are  indulged  in  which  give  the 
impression  of  an  agreement,  which  is  really 
specious  and  deceptive.  Perhaps  I  might  il- 
lustrate what  I  am  trying  to  say  by  a  conver- 
sation yesterday.  My  caller  was  a  very 
friendly  mullah.  He  made  a  leisurely  call  and 
I  found  the  opportunity  to  bring  up  the  rela- 
tion of  faith  to  works,  stating  the  New  Testa- 
ment teaching  and  asking  him  to  give  their 
belief.  He  did  this  in  terms  that  were  intended 
to  show  that  there  was  no  practical  difference. 
I  then  asked  about  the  merit  attaching  to  pil- 
grimages, fastings,  etc.,  trying  to  show  that  the 
doctrine  of  merit  was  not  in  agreement  with 
forgiveness  by  faith,  and  tried  to  insist  on  the 
essential  difference  between  his  position  and 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  113 

that  of  the  New  Testament.  My  purpose 
from  the  beginning  was  to  get  him  to  realize 
the  difference  in  our  beliefs.  I  don't  mention 
this  because  there  was  anything  remarkable  in 
the  conversation,  but  only  to  illustrate  in  a 
concrete  way  what  seems  to  me  the  proper 
method.  So,  while  emphasizing  the  fact  of 
revelation,  I  tried  to  point  out  the  Bible  method 
of  revelation  in  history,  and  the  perfect  life  as 
essentially  different  and  superior  to  the  Mos- 
lem idea  of  a  book  sent  down  from  Heaven. 
In  relation  to  the  finality  of  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation, I  think  it  is  important  to  contrast 
the  doctrine  of  the  Immanent  Spirit  with  the 
doctrine  of  successive  imams  or  prophets,  show- 
ing that  the  former  secures  the  Divine  Presence 
in  a  real  way,  and  the  latter  in  an  illusory  way. 
"By  the  way,  I  am  afraid  that  I  can't  spot 
Pantheists,  of  whom  Persia  is  supposed  to  be 
full,  and  I  find  more  occasion  to  insist  on  God's 
Immanence  than  to  limit  ideas  of  His  Imman- 
ence. I  try  to  keep  an  open  mind  to  learn 
from  the  East,  and  I  have  great  hopes  that 
Orientals  will  some  day  state  truth  in  new  and 
beautiful  ways.  They  have  a  power  of  illus- 
tration and  explanation  that  is  very  striking; 
but  I  have  far  less  hope  of  new  truths.     Per- 


114  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

haps  they  will  give  us  new  balance  to  truth,  a 
new  and  truer  perspective  in  some  things.  .  .  • 

"Various  things  the  last  year  have  made  me 
realize  that  I  have  changed  theologically. 
Perhaps  what  has  influenced  me  as  much  as 
anything  is  closer  contact  with  Mohammedan- 
ism. The  influence  is  mostly  by  contrast. 
On  the  one  hand,  dealing  with  the  legalistic 
and  literalistic  conception  carried  to  extremes 
in  Orthodox  Islam  has  made  me  prize  as  never 
before  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel,  the  freedom 
from  Law,  and  the  whole  conception  of  Chris- 
tianity as  a  power  by  grace.  On  the  other 
hand,  one  sees  a  great  deal  of  what  is  really 
'New  Theology,'  divine  immanence,  indiffer- 
ence as  to  the  way  of  religion,  disregard  of 
definition,  exaltation  of  the  common  divinity 
of  all ;  and  while  it  is  far  more  interesting  than 
dry  Mohammedan  'orthodoxy,'  I  am  not  sure 
but  that  it  is  ethically  just  as  impotent  and 
barren.  So  I  am  not  'new'  or  'old,'  for  JaldL 
ad  Din  seven  hundred  years  ago  said  far  more 
beautifully  and,  I  think,  more  truly  the  say- 
ings of  'New  Theology'  which  are  being  said 
now." 

Personal  work  for  Moslems  and  the  visits 
to  Moslem  villages  were  his  recreation  and  usu- 
ally made  on  Sundays  or  Fridays,  when  school 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  115 

was  closed.  The  desire  to  reach  Moslems  with 
Christian  truth  was  a  passion  with  him  and 
expression  was  his  rest.  In  the  fall  of  1909  he 
formally  requested  the  Board  that  he  be  set 
aside  for  this  work. 

"Personal  work  for  Moslems,"  he  wrote,  "is, 
of  course,  no  new  thing,  and  I  do  not  know  that 
I  have  anything  especially  new  to  contribute 
to  it ;  and  it  is,  of  course,  the  kind  of  work  that 
should  accompany  every  line  of  work  and  be 
a  part  of  every  missionary's  life.  I  think, 
however,  that  in  religious  discussion,  whether 
controversial  or  evangelistic,  there  is  need  for 
special  training  and  scope  for  special  aptitudes. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  with  educated, 
theologically-inclined  Mohammedans.  In  Per- 
sia this  is  a  class  that  needs  to  be  reached  not 
simply  for  their  own  sake  but  also  because  of 
their  influence  over  others.  This  leads  to  the 
second  point  as  to  studying  the  religious  con- 
ditions of  Persia.  This  is  not  so  simple  as  it 
seems  to  be.  Persia  is  full  of  all  sorts  of  be- 
liefs and  sects,  and  only  by  patience  and 
thought  can  their  real  beliefs  be  ascertained. 
Moreover,  it  has  never  been  done  with  any 
degree  of  thoroughness.  Yet  it  seems  to  me 
that  it  is  very  important  for  the  sake  of  our 
missionary  work.     Such  study  would  be  of 


116  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

permanent  and  not  merely  of  local  and  tran- 
sient value.  Out  of  such  work  one  might  well 
hope  to  be  able  to  make  contributions  of  some 
value  also  to  the  literature  of  the  Christian 
propaganda  among  Moslems.  So  what  I  ask 
is  that  I  should  be  able  to  consider  work  of 
this  character  my  first  work." 

Dr.  Shedd  was  exceptionally  well  fitted  to 
present  Christianity  to  Mohammedans.  In 
the  words  of  another,  "He  was  of  careful  and 
conservative  temper  but  his  mind  worked  un- 
ceasingly and  with  fearless  originahty  on  the 
problems  of  the  theological  and  apologetic 
statement  of  Christianity  to  Mohammedans, 
and  on  all  questions  of  Mission  policy  and 
Church  organization.  He  was  a  candid  and 
penetrating  investigator  of  Mohammedanism 
and  of  the  books  and  institutions  of  Islam. 
No  one  surpassed  him  in  his  skill  or  zeal  as  a 
personal  evangelist  to  Mohammedans  or  to 
Jews  in  Urumia." 

Because  of  the  pressure  of  institutional  work 
and  an  inadequate  missionary  force,  he  was 
never  given  as  large  an  opportunity  as  he  de- 
sired to  devote  himself  to  Moslem  work,  but 
as  head  of  the  American  School,  and  exerting 
every  personal  influence,  he  made  for  himself 
a  large  place  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK  117 

the  Mohammedan  community,  so  that  when 
Unmiia  was  overwhelmed  by  the  forces  of  evil 
set  loose  by  the  World  War,  he  was  able  to 
exert  a  commanding  influence  for  righteous- 
ness and  civilization. 


CHAPTER  VI:  PREACHER  AND 
SCHOLAR 

No  matter  how  busy  in  other  matters,  Dr. 
Shedd  was  a  constant  preacher,  especially  in 
the  later  years.  He  had  felt  that  he  could 
do  his  best  work  in  other  lines  than  in  preach- 
ing, but  his  power  as  a  preacher  increased  with 
the  growth  and  experience  of  the  years,  and 
his  ability  to  express  his  thoughts  clearly  and 
forcibly  could  not  be  excelled.  The  impres- 
sion he  made  upon  the  people  is  summed  up 
by  one  of  the  Syrian  preachers:  "He  was  a 
brief  speaker  and  for  every  question  he  had  a 
concise  answer,  but  very  satisfying.  His 
speeches  were  not  like  thunder,  nor  like  a  whirl- 
wind, but  short,  quiet,  and  impressive.  He 
was  not  an  orator;  his  delivery  was  slow  but 
ornamented  with  pure  and  attractive  logic 
which  his  audience  would  accept  with  great 
appreciation." 

On  a  short  vacation  from  school,  he  visited 
one  of  the  large  Christian  villages  and  returned 
filled  with  enthusiasm  for  the  evangelistic  op- 
portunities there.     "I  never  in  my  life  had  a 

118 


PREACHER  AND  SCHOLAR     119 

share  in  a  work  which  was  so  evidently  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  our  work  in  that  village.  Ev- 
erything seems  to  have  been  ready  for  a  harv- 
est, and  we  believe  many  were  brought  to  ac- 
cept Christ  as  their  Saviour,  and  the  spiritual 
life  of  many  more  was  deepened,"  he  said. 
On  his  return  from  this  village,  one  of  his  asso- 
ciates remarked  of  him,  "He  is  a  wonderful 
fellow ;  everything  he  undertakes,  he  does  well. 
Now  he  has  caught  a  new  glow  of  evangelistic 
zeal  and  has  added  another  department  of 
work  for  which  he  is  capable."  Just  before 
this  experience  he  had  been  disappointed,  ow- 
ing to  ill-health,  in  his  anticipated  visit  to  the 
Cairo  Conference,  but  when  he  came  home 
from  this  work  in  the  village,  he  remarked  with 
beaming  face,  "If  I  had  gone  to  Cairo,  I  should 
have  missed  this." 

Many  of  the  most  important  problems  to 
which  Dr.  Shedd  was  giving  his  thought  and 
time  were  those  concerning  the  Evangelical 
Church,  which  always  held  a  large  place  in  his 
own  missionary  life  as  in  his  father's. 

In  1909  the  question  of  the  union  of  the 
Evangelical  Church  with  the  Old  Church  was 
thoroughly  discussed.  The  Nestorian  Church 
existed  almost  entirely  among  the  Syrian 
mountain  tribes  who  lived  in  Turkish  territory. 


120  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

The  Evangelical  Church  membership  was 
largely  confined  to  the  Urumia  plain,  though 
there  was  regular  work  and  a  number  of 
organized  churches  among  the  mountain 
Syrians.  The  final  decison  of  such  a  question 
as  union  rested  upon  the  two  bodies  con- 
cerned, but  no  one  was  more  sincerely  in 
earnest  in  trying  to  find  a  possible  basis  of 
union  between  these  two  Christian  bodies 
which  were  so  largely  responsible  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  Mohammedan  world  about 
them,  than  Dr.  Shedd.  "I  suppose  that  the 
real  reason  for  separation,"  he  said,  "not 
merely  here  but  in  Christendom,  is  in  order  to 
secure  strength  by  isolation;  but  those  prin- 
ciples which  are  developed  by  isolation  must 
surely  be  given  the  opportunity  for  free  in- 
fluence in  the  whole  body  of  Christians  by  in- 
creasing unity.  This  is  being  accomplished 
in  other  places  by  the  free  interchange  of  opin- 
ion and  cooperation.  So  here  the  evangelical 
principles  ought  to  have  as  free  a  field  for  in- 
fluence as  we  can  get  for  them,  so  far  as  we 
can  trust  their  strength  to  withstand  the  perils 
that  must  come  from  that  unity  and  larger 
opportunity.  I  should  probably  have  been  a 
High  Churchman  if  I  had  been  born  an  Epis- 
copalian, for  the  idea  of  unity  and  catholicity 


PREACHER  AND  SCHOLAR     121 

attracts  me.  But  I  think  in  this  case  the  hmi- 
tation  for  the  spread  of  evangehcal  principles 
and  the  need  of  the  Old  Church  for  our  strong 
Evangelical  partj^  are  the  considerations.  It 
is  a  hard  problem  and  one  that  involves  some 
fundamental  questions.  .  .  . 

''I  don't  know  what  the  future  has  and  don't 
want  to  know,  but  I  am  sure  that  it  is  always 
right  to  find  out  what  is  common  ground  not 
so  much  in  belief  as  in  faith  and  love  and  ex-, 
perience." 

The  time  was  not  ripe  for  the  union  of  the 
two  bodies,  but  the  Old  Church  consented  to 
the  Evangelicals  preaching  in  the  Nestorian 
churches,  while  the  Evangelicals  agixed  not 
to  form  new  churches  among  the  IVestorians  in 
Kurdistan.  This  was  the  policy  followed  up 
to  the  outbreak  of  the  World  War,  when  the 
Christians  were  all  driven  out  of  Turkey,  and 
the  Evangehcal  Church  was  scattered.  In  1912 
this  Church  celebrated  its  fiftieth  anniversary. 
In  an  address  at  this  celebration,  Dr.  Shedd 
voiced  its  two  most  important  responsibilities 
when  he  said,  "The  justification  for  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Church  will  lie  not  so  much  in  its 
doctrine  as  in  its  missionary  activity.  Our  jus- 
tification will  be  ver\^  largely  in  the  work  done 
in  making  the  Gospel  known  to  Moslems  and 


122  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

extending  evangelical  truth  among  the  various 
peoples,  Chiistian  and  non- Christian,  with 
whom  its  members  come  in  contact.  .  .  . 

*'The  time  has  come  when  this  Church  should 
assume  the  full  right  to  direct  its  own  affairs 
and  do  its  own  work." 

During  the  last  decade  in  Urumia  the  prob- 
lem of  the  independence  of  the  Church  was 
much  discussed.  The  difficulty  was  not  that 
the  Church  was  demanding  its  independence 
but  that  it  feared  to  assume  responsibility. 
The  Evangelistic  Board  as  the  executive  body 
of  the  Church,  on  which  the  Station  was  rep- 
resented, had  for  a  long  time  accepted  respon- 
sibihty  for  at  least  one-third  of  the  financial 
support  of  the  whole  body,  while  a  few  of  the 
individual  churches  were  entirely  self-support- 
ing. 

The  Church  finally  accepted  its  independ- 
ence and  with  the  Mission  agreed  upon  certain 
principles  for  guidance  in  their  mutual  rela- 
tionships. 

"  ( 1 )  The  principle  that  the  Mission  should 
not  exercise  control  over  the  Native  Church, 
this  being  so  interpreted  that  even  the  grant  of 
money  aid  does  not  carry  with  it  the  right  of 
control  over  the  expenditure  of  the  money. 

(2)   The  Mission  is  not  under  compulsion 


PREACHER  AND  SCHOLAR  123 

to  make  grants  in  aid  to  the  Church,  and  in 
making  such  grants,  the  understanding  if  not 
the  formal  condition,  should  be  that  they  are 
not  for  the  pm^pose  of  enabling  the  Christian 
communities  to  have  'regular  services,'  but  to 
aid  them  as  evangelistic  agencies. 

(3)  The  principle  of  cooperation  as  separate 
bodies  in  the  relation  of  the  Mission  and  the 
Church.  They  are  bound  together  by  bonds 
of  love  and  service. 

(4)  The  Mission  may  properly  exercise  in- 
dependent control  of  the  work  carried  on  by  it 
which  is  in  character  auxiliary  to  rather  than 
essentially  a  part  of  the  Church  work,  such  as 
educational,  literary,  and  medical  work.  This 
line  cannot  be  arbitrarily  drawn  and  there  will 
be  need  of  patience,  forbearance,  and  careful 
thought. 

(5)  As  missionaries  we  have  both  the  right 
and  the  privilege  to  be  evangelists,  but  in  the 
exercise  of  this  work  among  Moslems  and  non- 
Moslems,  care  must  be  taken  to  stimulate  and 
not  discourage  the  missionary  spirit  of  the 
Church." 

Through  the  half  century  of  its  existence, 
with  all  its  weakness  and  lack  of  initiative,  the 
Church  has  not  been  untrue  to  its  missionary 
responsibilities,  and  probably  no  Church  in  the 


124  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Orient,  in  proportion  to  its  numbers,  has  sent 
out  so  many  preachers,  teachers,  colporteurs, 
and  other  Christian  workers,  not  only  through- 
out Persia,  but  even  beyond  her  borders. 

Such  was  the  development  of  the  Syrian 
Evangelical  Church  at  the  opening  of  the  Great 
War  which  brought  to  this  httle  isolated  body 
of  Christians  such  persecutions,  massacre,  and 
destruction  as  have  been  inflicted  upon  no  other 
Church  in  modern  times.  Probably  as  many 
as  four-fifths  of  its  ordained  men  and  other 
trained  workers,  and  two-thirds  of  its  member- 
ship have  perished  either  by  violence  or  as  the 
result  of  persecution.  The  little  remnant  is 
scattered  to  the  four  winds,  still  "bearing  about 
in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus"  and 
witnessing  to  His  life  which  is  in  them. 

Dr.  Shedd  was  too  busy  a  man  to  do  the 
literary  work  for  which  he  was  so  well  fitted,  as 
he  once  said,  "I  have  found  out  long  ago  that 
writing  and  studying  have  to  be  subordinate 
parts  of  my  life,  and  I  try  to  accept  it  without 
grumbling  and  keep  on  writing  and  studying 
when  I  can." 

He  was  profoundly  thoughtful  and  his  schol- 
arly mind  with  its  wonderful  powers  of  con- 
centration was  the  servant  of  the  Work,  so 
that  his  literary  skill  was  devoted  largely  to  the 


PREACHER  AND  SCHOLAR     125 

inconspicuous  tasks  of  the  Mission,  though  he 
was  a  frequent  contributor  to  magazines. 
While  at  home  on  his  first  furlough,  1902-1903, 
he  gave  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  Historical 
Relations  of  Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches, 
which  were  prepared  to  fill  the  Student  Mis- 
sionary Lectureship  at  Princeton.  They  were 
also  delivered  at  Auburn,  McCormick,  and 
Chicago  Theological  Seminaries,  and  at  the 
Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  of  Ken- 
tucky. Later  they  were  published  in  the  book 
entitled  Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches, 

A  piece  of  scholarly  work  upon  which  he 
labored  for  many  years  was  the  Syriac  Con- 
cordance of  the  Peshitta.  Prof.  Duncan  B. 
MacDonald  of  Hartford  Theological  Sem- 
inary is  best  acquainted  with  the  story  of  that 
Concordance  and  contributes  its  history.  He 
says,  "From  a  letter  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Labaree,. 
dated  from  Urumia,  April  11,  1902,  I  learn 
that  Professor  George  Foote  Moore,  then  of 
Andover  Seminary,  now  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, was  'the  real  father  of  the  movement,'  and 
that  he  suggested  that  it  should  be  confined  at 
first  to  the  Old  Testament,  and  that  the  Uru- 
mia edition  should  be  taken  as  a  basis  and  that 
the  Lee  edition  should  be  let  alone. 

"In  the  summer  of  1901  Dr.  Labaree  ap- 


126  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

proached  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary 
through  Professor  L.  B.  Paton  with  a  proposal 
that  it  should  undertake  the  financial  support 
of  this  Concordance,  and  should  also  advise  as 
to  its  form  and  plan.  The  scholars  in 
charge  at  Urumia  had  come  to  recognize  that, 
while  on  the  one  hand,  it  was  intended  for  the 
use  of  the  Syriac  community  in  Persia  as  a 
concordance  of  their  Scriptures,  on  another 
hand,  it  would  be  of  great  importance  to  west- 
ern scholars  and  must  be  adapted  to  their  needs. 
But  at  that  time  the  Hartford  Seminary  had 
no  funds  for  such  a  purpose  and  the  matter 
hung  on,  but  was  by  no  means  dropped  from 
our  minds.  The  work,  however,  was  still 
pushed  at  Urumia  and  in  January,  1902,  the 
slips  for  the  Old  Testament  were  within  two 
months  of  being  completed.  In  the  meantime 
I  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  come  into  corre- 
spondence with  Dr.  W.  A.  Shedd  in  connec- 
tion with  the  researches  which  had  led  up  to 
his  excellent  book,  Islam  and  the  Oriental 
Churches,  which  was  published  in  1904.  I 
had  the  privilege  of  reading  the  MS.  of  this 
took  and  of  offering  some  suggestions  on  it. 
I  had  also  been  in  correspondence  with  B.  W. 
Labaree,  one  of  iwy  old  students,  from  his  re- 
turn to  Persia  and  up  to  the  time  of  his  mur- 


PREACHER  AND  SCHOLAR     127 

der.  It  was  natural,  then,  that  in  May,  1903, 
Dr.  W.  A.  Shedd  should  write  me  from  Cali- 
fornia about  the  raising  of  money  for  this 
purpose,  although  this,  for  some  months,  only 
kept  the  matter  before  the  Seminary.  But 
steps  were  being  taken,  and  through  the  gen- 
erosity of  some  friends  of  the  Seminary,  among 
whom  Mr.  D.  Willis  James  was  by  far  the 
largest  contributor,  its  Research  Fund  was  es- 
tablished. This  was  largely  for  the  direct 
purpose  of  supporting  the  Concordance,  as  Mr. 
James  was  particularly  attracted  by  the  idea 
that  a  Mission  Station  should  make  so  signal 
a  contribution  to  scholarship.  Thus  in  the 
middle  of  1904  I  was  able  to  write  hopefully 
to  Dr.  Labaree  as  to  our  taking  part.  The 
work  with  the  classifying  of  the  slips  was  be- 
gun again  at  Urumia,  and  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Labaree,  dated  September  6,  1904,  marks  this 
new  start  and  tells  that  the  slips  for  the  Penta- 
teuch were  almost  arranged. 

"In  November,  1904,  the  whole  charge  at 
Urumia  was  handed  over  to  Dr.  Shedd,  who 
had  had  much  to  do  with  the  undertaking  from 
the  beginning,  and  from  that  time  on  the  cor- 
respondence was  between  Dr.  Shedd  and  my- 
self. I  was  entrusted  by  the  Seminary  with 
the  task  of  drawing  a  plan  for  the  Concordance 


128  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

and  with  the  duty  of  generally  advising  on  the 
work,  and  the  plan  so  drawn  up  was  approved 
on  January  17,  1905,  by  a  committee  consist- 
ing of  President  MacKenzie,  Dean  Jacobus, 
Professor  Nourse  and  myself.  In  1905  began 
also  the  financial  contributions  of  the  Seminary 
which  ultimately  reached  almost  three  thousand 
dollars. 

"The  work  so  far  had  been  most  completely 
and  admirably  done,  and  the  problem  for  the 
future  was  only  the  arrangement  of  the  mate- 
rials gathered  and  the  decision  as  to  how  much 
could  be  used. 

"It  is  with  a  very  melancholy  interest  that 
I  have  gone  over  the  correspondence  recording 
these  long  labors  now  vanished  from  the  earth, 
having  left,  humanly  speaking,  no  trace  be- 
hind. My  own  work  upon  it  was  nothing  com- 
pared with  that  of  Dr.  Labaree,  Dr.  Shedd  and 
their  native  assistants.  The  financial  contri- 
bution of  the  Seminary  was  little  beside  their 
patient,  year-long  labors. 

"This  was  one  of  the  great  undertakings  of 
scholarship  and  its  destruction  is  one  of  the 
greatest  blows  that  Semitic  scholarship  has  ever 
received,  and  it  is  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
historic  calamities  of  learning.  It  had  been  a 
vindication  of  missionary  enterprise  as  applied 


PREACHER  AND  SCHOLAR  12^ 

to  sound  scholarship.  As  the  Urumia  Syriac 
Old  Testament  had  been  one  of  the  founda- 
tions of  Syriac  learning,  so  this  Concordance 
would  have  been  a  basis  for  any  future  critical 
edition  of  the  Peshitta  and  would  have  put  the 
lexicography  of  Syriac  on  a  new  footing.  In 
it  the  glory  of  the  ancient  Nestorian  commu- 
nity would  have  been  revived  in  the  scholarly 
labors  of  its  last  descendant.  And  it  is  in  a 
sense  fitting,  if  also  heartbreaking,  that  this 
last  monument  of  Nestorian  scholarship  should 
have  passed  away  in  the  destruction  of  the  Nes- 
torian race. 

"Dr.  Shedd's  Syriac  scholarship  and  the 
breadth  of  his  knowledge  as  to  the  history  of 
the  Syrian  Church  had  become  plain  to  me  in 
our  correspondence  on  his  book.  I  had 
learned,  too,  how  open  and  catholic  a  spirit  he 
had  on  religious  questions  and  how  eager  he 
was  for  the  deepening  and  widening  of  the 
training  of  missionaries.  I  was  now  to  learn, 
in  connection  with  the  Concordance,  how  ac- 
curate his  scholarship  was  and  what  patient 
pains  he  could  take  in  the  minutest  details. 
We  soon  worked  out  the  plan.  It  was  to  be 
a  Concordance  of  the  Perkins  or  Urumia  edi- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament,  without  the  Apoc- 
rypha,   according   to   the    Nestorian    Canon. 


130  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

With  the  Urumia  text  Ceriani's  photo-htho- 
graph  of  the  Codex  Ambrosianus  (a  MS.  of 
the  Vlth.-VIIth.  centuries)  was  collated  and 
all  the  variants  recorded.  The  same  was  done 
with  Barnes'  critical  edition  of  the  Psalms  and 
with  his  *Text  of  Chronicles,'  where  the  text  of 
*Uramia'  was  weak.  Recognition  of  Lee's 
edition,  of  that  of  Mosul  and  that  in  the  Poly- 
glots seemed  unnecessary.  The  order  finally 
adopted  was  that  of  the  Hebrew  text,  as  to 
books,  chapters,  and  verses.  Everything  was 
put  in  except  enclitics,  inseparable  preposi- 
tions and  particles;  for  proper  names  there 
were  references  only.  All  this  is  simply  to  put 
on  record  that  such  work  was  done  and  done 
largely  through  the  tireless  energy  of  Dr. 
Shedd  applied  through  long  years  and  in  con- 
stant fighting  of  ill-health  and  eye  trouble. 
It  was  an  amazing  piece  of  work  and  yet  only 
a  part  of  his  amazing  life. 

"When  the  war  finally  broke  out,  the  work 
was  ready  for  the  printer  and  had  been  tested 
and  corrected  throughout.  Dr.  Shedd  was  oc- 
cupied in  reviewing  the  corrections  when  he 
was  compelled  to  stop.  The  story  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  MS.  is  part  of  the  story  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Urumia  Mission." 


CHAPTER  VII:  HOME  LIFE 

In  April,  1903,  William  A.  Shedd  and  Miss 
Louise  Wilbur  of  Riverside,  California,  were 
married,  and  a  few  months  later  the  home  was 
re-established.  Mrs.  Shedd  was  not  a  stranger 
in  Urumia,  having  been  for  a  number  of  years 
a  member  of  the  Station,  first  as  teacher  for 
the  missionary  children  and  later  principal  of 
Fiske  Seminary,  and  so  was  able  to  enter  sym- 
pathetically into  the  missionary  activities  of 
her  husband  and  to  take  her  share  of  the  bur- 
dens and  responsibilities  of  a  missionary  home. 
Louise  Shedd  never  allowed  personal  comfort 
or  convenience  to  interfere  with  her  husband's 
work.  He  was  very  dependent  upon  the  sup- 
port and  affections  of  the  home  and  was  largely 
able  to  maintain  his  health  and  do  his  work 
because  they  were  never  failing.  He  was  not, 
a  financier;  money  had  little  value  to  him  ex- 
cept as  a  means  of  procuring  the  necessary 
things  of  living,  and  it  was  as  likely  to  be  ap- 
plied to  other  people's  needs  as  his  own.  His 
only  extravagance  was  in  giving,  hence  it  de- 
volved upon  the  wife  to  manage  the  family 

131 


132  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

finances.  Theirs  was  a  home  of  simple  tastes, 
plain  living,  and  high  thinking,  where  self- 
denial  was  cheerfully  practiced.  Two  more 
daughters  were  added  to  the  family  and  no 
man  ever  enjoyed  his  family  more  than  Dr. 
Shedd. 

The  burdens  of  the  years  of  turmoil  and 
ceaseless  activity  had  left  their  marks  on  a  not 
very  strong  body.  Dr.  Shedd  suffered  fre- 
quently from  corneal  ulcers,  but  even  when 
confined  to  a  dark  room,  he  was  kept  busy  with 
the  many  persons  who  needed  his  advice. 
"You  know  there  is  not  a  lazy  bone  in  Will's 
body,"  wrote  Mrs.  Shedd.  "I  never  saw  any 
one  who  could  turn  out  work  as  he  can, 
and  while  he  is  not  robust,  and  has  to  take 
a  good  deal  of  medicine,  by  conscientious  care 
of  his  diet  and  exercise,  by  working  without 
fret  and  worry,  and  by  living  as  regular  a  life 
as  possible,  he  does  more  than  most  strong 
men." 

The  latter  part  of  1909  his  health  became 
seriously  impaired.  His  trouble  was  diag- 
nosed as  "incipient  tuberculosis,"  and  on 
Christmas  day  he  wrote  a  friend,  "Others  have, 
I  believe,  written  you  about  the  change  in  my 
work  that  has  seemed  necessary.  It  is  a  little 
hard,  not  a  little  hard  either,  but  really  one  of 


HOME  LIFE  133 

the  hardest  things  I  have  ever  had  to  meet  that 
the  change  has  come  for  such  a  reason.  I  hope 
that  it  may  all  come  out  so  that  I  may  do  better 
work,  if  not  more  work,  and  that  it  may  be  the 
work  where  I  can  do  the  best  service.  .  .  . 

"The  name  ^tuberculosis'  is  not  pleasant  and 
I  have  been  rebellious,  but  I  have  no  right  to 
be,  of  course.  .  .  . 

"The  sense  of  deprivation  from  work  is 
sometimes  very  keen." 

His  was  a  simple  faith,  yet  clear  and  satis- 
fying intellectually.  Heart  and  mind,  faith 
and  life,  were  centered  in  Christ  and  domi- 
nated by  Him,  as  he  testified,  "The  center  and 
ground  of  my  faith  is  the  Lord  Jesus.  It 
seems  to  me  I  would  yield  allegiance  to  Him 
and  trust  my  soul  to  Him  whether  I  found 
Him  in  the  Bible  or  out  of  it;  whether  in  life, 
literature,  or  tradition.  He  is  the  ultimate 
ground  of  faith.  Out  of  this  grows  a  faith  in 
God,  His  Father  and  ours,  in  the  Spirit  sent 
by  Him  and  in  the  Scriptures  which  testify  of 
Him.  .  .  . 

"With  me,  at  least,  it  is  Christ  Who  holds 
me  to  the  faith,  and  not  the  theory  of  the  faith 
that  makes  Christ  credible." 

This  period  of  being  laid  aside  was  a  hard 
experience  such  as  only  a  man  accustomed  to 


134  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

a  life  of  strenuous  activity  could  fully  appreci- 
ate. It  was  also  a  time  of  preparation,  spirit- 
ually and  physically,  for  the  years  just 
ahead. 

There  was  a  year  of  resting  in  Persia,  though 
he  was  not  idle.  Aniong  many  other  things  he 
did,  was  the  revision  of  the  Syriac  Hymn-book. 
He  longed  for  an  unirrigated  country,  "a  coun- 
try carpeted  with  God's  own  greensward  and 
beautified  with  God's  own  forests."  This  he 
found  to  the  full  in  Switzerland,  where  he  spent 
several  months  with  his  family.  While  there 
he  worked  on  his  father's  biography,  but  mostly 
tramped  about  the  country  with  the  children 
and  rested.  They  came  to  America  for  a  visit 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1911  he  was  pronounced 
fit  to  return  to  Persia. 

The  political  situation  in  Persia  was  bad 
and  the  Russians  had  brought  in  more  troops 
for  the  "pacification  of  the  country."  Mr. 
Shuster  after  a  long  fight  had  to  give  up  and 
accept  his  dismissal. 

As  early  as  1913  there  were  serious  threaten- 
ings  of  a  general  massacre  of  Christians  in 
Turkey.  Dr.  Shedd  and  Dr.  E.  W.  McDow- 
ell, who  was  in  charge  of  Evangelical  Church 
work  among  mountain  Syrians,  made  a  visit 


HOME  LIFE  135 

to  Kochanis  to  discuss  with  Mar  Shimon,  the 
Nestorian  Patriarch,  the  safety  of  the  Chris- 
tians. It  was  only  a  httle  over  a  year  after- 
ward, in  the  late  summer  of  1915,  that  the  blow 
fell,  and  practically  all  the  Syrian  Christians 
who  escaped  massacre,  fled  across  the  border 
into  Persia,  where  they  found  temporary 
refuge. 

The  Kurds  were  demanding  autonomy  under 
the  leadership  of  the  grandson  of  Bedr  Khan 
Bey,  who  seventy  years  before  was  responsible 
for  the  massacre  of  the  Christians.  As  has 
been  said,  the  Turks  were  laying  claim  to  Per- 
sian territory  west  of  Urumia  Lake.  A 
Turko-Persian  boundary  commission  was  ap- 
pointed, on  which  were  represented  Great 
Britain,  Russia,  Turkey,  and  Persia.  The 
frontier  was  marked  out  for  a  thousand  miles, 
from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  Mount  Ararat,  the 
Turks  losing  all  the  territory  they  had  seized 
in  northwest  Persia. 

Dr.  Shedd  on  his  return  from  America  had 
resumed  his  leadership  in  the  Educational  work 
and  in  the  Legal  Board  and  other  departments 
with  which  he  had  been  identified.  Then  came 
the  World  War,  which  brought  to  him  tre- 
mendous burdens  and  responsibilities,  but  that 


136  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

is  a  unique  story  and  will  be  told  in  the  chap- 
ters that  follow. 


MEMBERS   OF  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   MISSION 
IN   URUMIA  IN    1915. 

Rev.  F.  G.  Coan, 

Mrs.  Ida  Speer  Coan, 

Rev.  E.  W.  McDowell, 

Mrs.  Mary  Coe  McDowell, 

Rev.  Wm.  A.  Shedd, 

Mrs.  Louise  Wilbur  Shedd, 

Rev.  E.  T.  Allen, 

Mrs.  May  Wallace  Allen, 

Mrs.  Bertha  McConaughy  Cochran,  (Mrs. 
J.  P.) 

Miss  Mary  E.  Lewis, 

Miss  Edith  D.  Lamme, 

Rev.  Hugo  A.  MuUer, 

Mrs.  Laura  McComb  MuUer,  M.  D. 

Miss  Lenore  R.  Schoebel, 

Miss  Elizabeth  V.  Coan, 

Dr.  H.  P.  Packard, 

Mrs.  Francis  Bayley  Packard. 

Mile.  Madeleine  Perrochet,  a  Swiss  girl 
recently  come  to  Urumia  as  teacher  for  the 
missionary  children. 


HOME  LIFE  137 

In  Charge  of  Christ's  Home  for  Children, 
sent  from  Warminster,  Pa. 
Rev.  Herman  Pflaumer, 
Mrs.  Helen  Pflaumer, 
Miss  Ena  Bridges. 


CHAPTER  VIII:  THE  ADVOCATE 
OF  THE  CAPTIVES 

At  the  opening  of  the  Great  War  in  the 
summer  of  1914,  the  Russians  were  in  mili- 
tary occupation  of  the  Urumia  region.  When 
the  order  came  for  the  mobihzation  of  the  Rus^ 
sian  army,  there  was  great  excitement.  For 
a  while  it  looked  as  if  the  whole  force  would 
withdraw.  Such  an  event  would  have  been 
disastrous  to  the  Christian  population,  but  it 
was  evident  that  the  Moslems  would  not  have 
grieved.  As  it  was,  a  small  force  stayed,  forti- 
fications were  built  around  the  city  and  prep- 
arations made  for  its  defense.  Turks  and 
Kurds  began  to  gather  on  the  border  and  in 
September  the  Christians  of  the  border  region 
abandoned  their  villages  and  came  to  Urumia. 

Before  Turkey's  public  entrance  into  the 
War,  early  in  October,  an  attack  under  Turk- 
ish officers  was  made  upon  the  city  of  Urumia. 
The  Russians  brought  their  mountain  guns 
into  action  from  a  position  near  our  Mission. 
As  we  watched  the  battle  from  our  roof,  we 
could  follow  the  flight  of  the  cannon  balls 
through  the  trees  and  with  our  telescope  could 

138 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     139 

see  them  strike  among  the  rocks  where  the 
enemy  were  stationed  on  the  opposite  hills. 
Certain  massacre  would  have  followed  the  suc- 
cess of  this  attack  but  the  city  was  saved  just 
in  the  nick  of  time  by  the  arrival  of  fresh  Rus- 
sian troops.  A  Persian  Nationalist  who  took 
part  in  this  attack,  said  afterwards  that  the 
fighting  force  of  Kurds  and  Turks  was  fol- 
lowed by  thousands  of  unarmed  Kurds,  men, 
women,  and  children,  ready  to  join  in  the  sack 
of  the  city  and  carry  off  the  plunder.  The 
people  were  all  looking  to  the  American  Mis- 
sion as  a  place  of  refuge,  in  case  the  city  fell. 

There  was  a  widespread  sympathy  on  the 
part  of  Persians  for  the  enemies  of  Russia, 
partly  because  they  hated  the  Russians  and 
partly  due  to  Tm^kish  agents  getting  ready 
for  war  with  Russia. 

"The  Nationalist  movement  in  Persia," 
wrote  Dr.  Shedd,  "which  had  begun  a  decade 
previously,  and  which  succeeded  in  establishing 
the  form  of  Parliamentary  govermiient,  was 
a  genuine  popular  movement,  but  it  failed.  It 
neither  established  a  stable,  representative  gov- 
ernment nor  produced  an  enlightened  despot. 
It  left  behind  it  in  Persia  a  smoldering  Na- 
tionalist aspiration,  discontented  because  of 
its  failure,  for  which  it  largely  blamed  Russia. 


140  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Russian  influence  antagonized  the  popular 
feeling,  though  it  tended  to  secure  order  in  the 
country.  It  left  behind  it  also  a  set  of  pro- 
fessional revolutionists,  men  of  some  enterprise 
but  no  principle.  Many  of  these  were  forced 
to  flee  and  found  an  asylum  in  Turkey  and 
in  the  war  were  active  Turkish  partisans.  So 
in  spite  of  the  historic  hatred,  both  national 
and  religious,  the  Persians  being  Shia  or  Shiite 
Moslems,  Persia's  sympathy  was  with  Turkey 
when  she  entered  the  war." 

The  topographical  and  geographical  rela- 
tionship of  Persia,  Turkey  and  Russia  makes 
this  corner  of  Persia  strategetically  important 
and  both  Turkey  and  Russia  wanted  to  hold  it. 
It  furnished  a  road  from  the  Russian  railway 
at  Julfa  through  Khoi  to  Van  in  Turkey,  and 
was  a  possible  avenue  for  the  movement  of 
troops  from  Mesopotamia  to  the  Caucasus. 

During  the  last  weeks  of  1914  there  were 
premonitions  of  danger  in  Urumia,  but  the 
Russians  gave  assurance  that  they  would  hold 
that  front  at  all  odds.  Without  any  warning, 
as  far  as  we  knew,  the  order  came  to  the  Rus- 
sian troops  for  the  evacuation  of  the  whole 
region  and  during  the  night  of  January  1, 
1915,  they  began  to  move  out.  In  the  morn- 
ing there  was  panic  everywhere  as  the  news 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     141 

of  the  evacuation  circulated.  The  Christian 
population  was  at  the  mercy  of  Turks  and 
Kurds  and  Persians.  Dr.  Shedd  hastened  to 
the  Russian  Consulate  and  found  it  already- 
dismantled  and  everybody  getting  ready  to 
leave.  It  was  evident  there  was  no  help  from 
the  Russians  and  taking  leave  of  the  Consul 
with  the  words,  ''Panah  ha  Khudaf'  ''Refuge 
with  God,"  he  returned  to  the  city.  We  mis- 
sionaries got  together  and  faced  the  situation. 
No  one  wanted  to  leave  and  there  was  so  much 
uncertainty  as  to  how  and  where  to  go  that  it 
was  decided  that  all  should  stay.  Tabriz  was 
the  location  of  the  nearest  American  Consulate 
but  we  did  not  know  that  the  roads  would  be 
open  nor  whether  that  city  would  be  any  safer 
than  TJrumia. 

With  the  Russian  authority  gone  and  the 
Persian  government  paralyzed.  Dr.  Shedd  was 
the  man  to  whom  everybody  looked  for  lead- 
ership. He  accepted  the  responsibility  thus 
thrust  upon  him  and  for  the  next  five  months 
became  the  advocate  and  protector  of  thou- 
sands of  helpless  people  who  had  no  one  else 
to  whom  to  look.  Writing  of  that  first  day,  he 
said,  "I  called  on  the  mujtaJiid,  the  principal 
religious  leader  in  the  city,  and  on  one  or  two 
others  and  urged  them  to  take  measures  to 


142  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

secure  the  establishment  of  some  sort  of  gov- 
ernment to  meet  the  difficult  situation  which 
confronted  us.  In  the  afternoon  the  chief  men 
of  the  city  got  together  to  plan.  They  did  not 
dare  set  up  a  new  governor  yet,  though  they 
were  certain  that  the  governor,  who  was  a  Rus- 
sian partisan  and  instrument,  would  not  stay. 
For  three  days  I  was  in  constant  communica- 
tion with  the  chief  nobles  and  ecclesiastics. 
Urumia  had  an  unusual  number  of  high  offi- 
cials in  title  but  there  was  neither  unity  nor 
efficiency  in  the  lot,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
get  vigorous  action  for  the  protection  of  the 
city  itself,  while  murder  and  robbery  ruled  in 
the  villages  without  let  or  hindrance.  It  was 
no  encouragement  to  be  in  the  councils  of  the 
big  men  of  the  city.  There  was  no  unity,  no 
resolution. 

"The  English  missionaries,  who  were  our 
good  friends,  left  in  the  evening.  The  French 
missionaries  decided  to  stay,  and  one  result  of 
our  troubles  was  that  we  were  thrown  together 
in  the  closest  associations  with  them  and  were 
good  friends,  too.  The  Belgian  head  of  Cus- 
toms brought  his  rugs  and  piano  for  us  to 
keep,  and  the  Russian  Mission  sent  some  of  its 
goods.  In  general  we  did  a  big  business  as 
residuary  legatees. 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     143 

"The  next  day  there  were  more  conferences 
with  the  city  people,  and  I  began  in  earnest 
the  work  that  kept  up  for  months,  constantly 
calHng  on  the  authorities  and  others,  who  in 
any  way  could  help  in  securing  safety  for  the 
Christians.  That  Sunday  was  a  terrible  day. 
When  I  walked  out  to  the  city  gate  early  in 
the  morning,  everything  was  quiet,  not  a  Rus- 
sian was  in  sight,  all  had  gone.  Soon  the  crowd 
gathered,  not  of  Russians  but  of  Moslems,  and 
plundering  began.  People  were  coming  from 
the  villages  and  filling  up  our  premises. 

"We  must  get  in  touch  with  the  Kurdish 
chiefs,  so  we  sent  a  note  with  one  of  our  gate- 
keepers, to  Karini  Agha,  the  principal  Kurd 
now  approaching  the  city.  He  sent  back  a 
favorable  reply.  The  next  day  was  still  worse. 
Dr.  Packard  with  a  few  others  started  out  to 
meet  Karini  Agha.  He  found  the  people  of 
Geogtapa,  the  largest  of  the  Christian  villages, 
fleeing  to  the  city,  running  the  whole  six  miles 
a  veritable  gauntlet  of  roughs  who  robbed  them 
of  everything  they  could  lay  hold  of.  There 
was  every  reason  to  believe  that  soldiers,  serv- 
ants of  the  nobility,  and  others,  and  some  of 
the  big  people  shared  in  the  plunder  of  these 
robbers,  who  were  city  Mohammedans." 

That  night  when  Dr.  Packard  returned,  he 


144  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

brought  with  him  fifteen  hundred  or  more  of 
the  Geogtapa  people  whom  he  had  rescued 
from  massacre  through  his  influence  with  the 
Kurdish  chiefs. 

By  the  morning  of  January  3,  the  people 
began  pressing  into  our  yards  in  crowds.  The 
larger  part  of  them  had  been  stripped  of  every- 
thing but  the  few  clothes  on  their  backs.  It 
was  winter  with  snow  and  slush,  the  tempera- 
ture often  ten  to  twenty  degrees  (Fahr.)  below 
freezing,  and  many  suffered  greatly  on  the 
road.  We  emptied  all  the  school-rooms  and 
store-rooms,  to  get  ready  for  the  rush.  The 
big  study-hall  of  Fiske  Seminary  was  full  of 
desks  and  not  thought  suitable  for  living  quar- 
ters. Here  fires  were  built  and  the  shivering 
women  and  children  brought  in  to  get  warm. 
They  remained  here  for  months  and  many  of 
them  were  carried  to  their  graves  from  that 
room.  On  the  desks  and  under  them,  on  the 
platform  and  in  the  aisles,  they  lived  and  sick- 
ened and  died.  The  church  filled  up  with 
mountaineers.  The  Press,  administration 
building,  boys'  school  at  Sardari,  college  and 
hospital  buildings  all  filled  up.  Still  they 
came,  first  from  the  nearer  villages,  then 
from  the  more  distant  ones,  till  every  hall- 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     145 

way,  washhouse,  cellar,  and  closet  was  packed 
full,  not  lying-down  but  sitting-up  full. 

In   our   own   houses,    in   kitchens,    dining- 
rooms,  parlors,  hallways,  and  bedrooms,  were 
the  relatives  of  the  servants  and  our  special 
friends.     As  the  refugees  continued  to  pour 
into  our  yards  by  the  thousands  and  as  our 
own  buildings  filled  up,  we  took  the  surround- 
ing yards,  all  of  which  belonged  to  Syrians, 
who  were  eager  to  connect  their  yards  with 
ours  by  cutting  holes  through  the  walls,  or 
by  ladders  where  the  walls  were  low.     These 
yards  were  soon  overflowing  with  the  relatives 
and  friends  of  the  owners.     Then  we  took 
houses  across  the  street,  and  farther  out  into 
the  Christian  quarters.     Later  we  used  the 
Nestorian  Church,  the  Russian  School,  and  the 
houses   left  vacant   by  Russians   and   native 
Christians  when  they  fled  with  the  army.    The 
large  English  Mission  adjoining  our  property 
was  opened  into  ours  and  an  American  flag 
was  placed  over  the  gate.    We  had  more  than 
fifty  properties  occupied  with  refugees   and 
these  all  had  to  be  controlled  and  protected 
and  most  of  them  fed.    During  the  first  weeks 
there  were  fifteen  thousand  or  more  crowded 
into  our  own  and  ad j  oining  yards.    The  people 


146  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

always  referred  to  this  siege  as  their  "Captiv- 
ity." 

The  storeroom  at  the  gate,  with  mud  floor 
and  walls,  was  used  as  a  temporary  place  for 
caring  for  those  wounded  on  their  way  to  our 
premises.  One  of  those  early  days  a  little  girl 
was  brought  in  shot  in  the  thigh,  the  wound 
having  gone  undressed  for  several  days.  The 
father  had  been  shot  in  the  village  while  carry- 
ing the  child  and  the  bullet  had  passed  through 
his  body,  wounding  the  little  girl.  All  of  this 
family  of  six  were  killed  or  died  of  their 
wounds  except  the  mother. 

A  Syrian  physician  was  always  on  duty  in 
the  city  yard  and  was  kept  busy  from  morning 
till  night  with  these  cases. 

There  was  urgent  demand  for  a  maternity 
ward,  but  we  could  find  only  two  small  rooms 
for  the  mothers,  many  of  whom  had  not  even 
a  quilt.  Several  children  were  born  in  the 
crowded  church,  but  nearly  all  of  them  died. 
The  Seminary  dining-room  was  reserved  as 
a  ward  for  measles,  and  was  soon  overflow- 
ing. 

The  unpretentious  gateway  of  our  main  city 
compound  was  of  strategic  importance.  It 
opened  on  the  most  frequented  street  in  the 
city  and  thousands  passed  it  every  day.    All 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     147 

other  gates  in  our  compound  and  adjoining 
yards  were  closed,  bolted  and  barred.     This 
being  the  only  entrance  to  the  whole  Christian 
community,  the  traffic  and  the  throngs  who 
passed  through  every  day  were  a  tremendous 
task  to  regulate  and  control,  and  required  the 
constant  vigilance  of  a  missionary.    A  number 
of  Persian  guards  were  placed  here  but  they 
could  not  be  depended  upon  and  Mr.  Muller 
and  his  unarmed  Syrian  police  were  always 
at    "attention."      The    frightened    fugitives, 
stripped  and  often  wounded,  the  porters  with 
their   loads    of   bread    from   the    bazaar,    the 
hundreds  who  formed  the  long  breadline  every 
day,  Persian,   Turkish  and  Kurdish  officials 
who  came  to  see  Dr.  Shedd,  friendly  Moslems 
and  messengers,  all  had  to  be  admitted,  but 
it  was  equally  important  to  keep  out  those  who 
would  make  trouble.    This  had  to  be  done  by 
diplomacy  rather  than  force.    Calls  of  distress 
had  to  be  answered.      There   were   frequent 
troubles  and  excitements  outside  that  threw  the 
terrified  refugees  into  panic  and  unless  han- 
dled with  tact  and  wisdom  might  have  serious 
consequences.      This    all   devolved    upon   the 
keeper  of  the  gate,  who  was  a  sort  of  com- 
posite of  St.  Peter  and  Horatius. 

One  day  word  came  to  Dr.  Shedd  in  the 


148  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

main  city  compound  that  Kurds  were  break- 
ing into  Sardari.  He  grabbed  his  hat  and 
ran  out,  calling  the  Turkish  guard  at  the  gate 
to  follow  him,  and  arrived  at  Sardari  just  in 
time,  for  the  Kurds  were  about  to  break 
through  the  back  gate.  The  refugees  would 
have  had  little  chance  if  once  they  had  gotten 
inside.  After  refugees  had  been  put  into 
houses  outside  our  compounds,  frequently  a 
call  of  distress  would  come  after  night,  and 
Dr.  Shedd  or  others,  lantern  in  hand,  would  go 
to  rescue  helpless  girls  or  women  from  the 
lawless  soldiery. 

"Among  the  thousands  of  patient  sufferers 
in  the  City  Compound,"  writes  Mr.  Muller, 
"one  poor  woman  had  lost  her  reason  and  had 
^become  a  raving  maniac.  Her  little  baby  was 
^  not  safe  in  her  presence.  She  had  just  been 
given  an  opiate  and  sent  to  the  hospital.  A 
score  of  persons  followed  Dr.  Shedd  to  his 
buggy  as  he  prepared  to  go  to  his  home  and 
laid  before  him  as  many  different  questions 
and  pleas.  As  he  seated  himself,  a  bundle  was 
passed  to  him.  It  was  the  helpless  little  waif 
whose  mother  had  suffered  beyond  endurance. 
He  wrapped  the  little  bundle  of  rags  in  his 
laprobe  and  held  it  as  tenderly  as  though  it 
were  his  own  first  born,  while  the  carriage 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     149 

jolted  heavily  over  the  cobblestones  to  the  hos- 
pital." 

At  the  College  Compound  where  Dr.  Coan 
was  in  charge,  the  crowds  had  taken  possession 
of  every  foot  of  room  while  their  cattle  roamed 
all  over  the  yards.  One  day  six  hundred 
people,  led  by  their  pastor,  came  in  from  the 
village  of  Kala  Ismail  Agha,  which  had  been 
built  up  by  a  group  of  refugees  who  had  es- 
caped the  Turkish  massacres  of  1895.  They 
had  been  promised  by  the  Turks  that  they 
would  be  safe  and  so  had  remained  in  the  vil- 
lage. Kurds  came  and  after  being  fed  as 
guests  of  the  village,  they  disarmed  the  men 
and  began  to  slaughter  the  people,  killing  over 
thirty  and  wounding  many  others.  The  vil- 
lagers scattered  and  ran  to  the  hills  where  after 
wandering  about  in  cold  and  hunger,  they 
found  their  way  to  the  Mission. 

News  of  the  evacuation  of  the  Russian  army 
reached  the  villages  at  the  northern  end  of 
Urumia  plain  late  in  the  evening  of  January  2, 
and  by  midnight  the  people  were  hastening 
after  the  army  toward  Julfa.  By  morning 
practically  every  Christian  village  of  that  sec- 
tion was  deserted.  The  cattle  were  left  stand- 
ing in  the  stables,  and  the  furnishings  and  food 
supplies   were   left   in   the  houses.     Horses, 


160  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

donkeys,  or  any  animals  that  could  be  used  as 
beasts  of  burden  were  at  a  premium.  Only 
small  sums  of  money  were  usually  kept  on 
hand,  so  that  many  who  were  comparatively 
rich  started  out  on  that  journey  with  almost 
nothing.  Nearly  all  were  on  foot  and  during 
the  week  of  trudging  through  snow  and  slush, 
their  clothing,  quilts  and  even  food  had  to  be 
discarded  in  order  to  carry  the  children.  At 
night  it  was  impossible  to  find  shelter.  The 
old  and  weak  died  along  the  road  and  those 
who  finally  reached  Julf  a  were  so  wretched  and 
emaciated  that  their  friends  did  not  recognize 
them. 

The  Armenians  and  Syrians  in  southern 
Russia  helped  their  people  and  in  every  place 
that  these  refugees  found  shelter  in  the  Rus- 
sian villages,  the  peasants  helped  to  the  limit 
of  their  ability.  Later,  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment gave  a  regular  allowance  to  them. 

Two  or  three  days  after  the  evacuation  by 
the  Russians,  the  Turks  occupied  Urumia,  and 
the  end  of  the  first  week  found  the  Turkish 
Consul  in  control  of  affairs,  as  the  Russian 
Consul  had  been  previously.  Azim-es-Sal- 
tanah  Sardar,  a  local  nobleman,  was  the  head 
of  the  nominal  Persian  Government,  and  used 
his  influence  to  save  life  and  protect  property. 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     151 

though  he  had  no  authority  and  little  power. 
He  was  in  the  humiliating  position  of  having 
to  work  in  subordination  to  the  Turks  and 
of  having  to  help  them  to  collect  supplies  and 
funds  for  their  army.  The  Turkish  military 
commander  with  a  force  of  troops  varying 
from  a  few  hundred  to  fifteen  thousand  usu- 
ally worked  with  the  Consul,  though  not  with- 
out friction  and  jealousy. 

For  the  Moslems  the  situation  was  rather 
mixed.  They  rejoiced  over  the  departure  of 
the  Russians  and  the  large  majority  joined 
the  mob  in  looting  the  Christians ;  while  many 
of  them  were  guilty  of  worse  crimes,  murder, 
rape,  and  forcible  conversion  of  girls  and 
women.  They  preferred  Turkish  invasion  to 
Russian  occupation  and  yet  found  it  humiliat- 
ing and  distressing  to  see  the  plain  overrun  by 
their  enemies,  the  Kurds  and  the  Turks  in 
control  of  the  country. 

Many  of  the  Moslems  on  pretense  of  friend- 
ship took  Christians  and  their  goods  into  their 
homes.  A  great  deal  of  this  goods  was  never 
returned  to  the  owners,  some  of  it  being  seized 
by  Turks  and  Kurds  and  more  of  it  appro- 
priated by  the  Moslem  protectors.  One  of 
our  preachers  after  being  plundered  of  every- 
thing by  his  Moslem  neighbors,  was  received 


•152  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

as  a  refugee  into  one  of  their  homes.  Here  he 
was  fed  on  his  own  food,  from  his  own  dishes 
and  slept  on  his  own  bed,  all  of  which  they  had 
stolen  from  him.  Persons  kept  by  Persians 
were  frequently  compelled  to  accept  Islam  in 
order  to  secure  safety  for  themselves  or  their 
relatives. 

When  the  troubles  began,  the  total  Chris- 
tian population,  including  a  thousand  refugee 
families  of  mountaineers,  was  about  thirty- 
three  thousand.  After  the  exodus  to  Russia 
3,p proximately  twenty-five  thousand  remained. 
Of  these,  not  more  than  a  thousand  families 
escaped  being  robbed  of  all  their  possessions, 
and  many  of  these  were  partially  robbed. 
Over  two  hundred  Christian  girls  and  women 
were  forced  to  become  Moslems.  Hundreds 
of  women  and  girls  were  violated,  about  a 
thousand  Christians  were  killed  and  four 
thousand  died  of  disease.  Thus  twenty  per 
cent  perished  in  five  months. 

All  this  time  within  our  Mission  Compounds 
there  was  constant  watching  day  and  night. 
There  were  times  when  the  missionary  men 
took  turns  in  keeping  awake  all  night.  We 
had  Persian  and  Turkish  soldiers  as  guards, 
and  at  the  College  Kurdish  guards,  but  there 
was  no  relaxing  our  vigilance.     It  was  this 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     153 

constant  anxiety  and  the  possibility  of  trouble 
any  minute  that  was  most  wearing.  Dr.  Shedd 
was  busy  day  and  night  going  to  the  Persian 
Governor,  the  Turkish  Consul,  the  Turkish 
Commander,  the  Kurdish  Chiefs  or  others  in 
authority,  and  by  diplomacy,  by  courage,  by 
patience,  he  won  his  case  and  kept  the  impris- 
oned Christian  community  from  the  worst  that 
always  threatened.  There  seems  no  answer 
as  to  whj^  Justice  and  Righteousness  so  often 
won  against  such  odds,  except  that  God  fought 
with  those  that  contended  for  them. 

One  day  while  at  dinner  at  the  College, 
word  was  brought  to  Dr.  Shedd  that  Kurds 
had  just  passed  the  gate  with  three  Christian 
women  captives.  He  jumped  from  the  table 
and  with  the  gatekeeper  ran  to  the  village 
where  the  women  had  been  taken,  recovered 
them  from  their  captors,  and  brought  them 
back.  Another  time  he  sent  horsemen  after 
women  who  were  being  carried  off  and  recov- 
ered them  five  miles  away.  A  certain  Turk- 
ish officer  had  the  reputation  of  beating  his 
prisoners  and  using  the  bastinado  on  them  till 
their  feet  were  bruised  and  swollen.  So,  one 
evening  when  an  order  came  for  Dr.  Shedd  to 
appear  before  this  man,  there  was  considerable 
anxiety,  and  the  people  in  the  yards  thought 


154  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  IVIAN 

he  was  going  to  his  doom.  Some  of  the  mis- 
sionary men  accompanied  him  and  fomid  this 
insignificant  little  officer  ranting  because  their 
soldiers,  sick  with  typhoid,  had  not  been  re- 
ceived into  our  overcrowded  hospital  when  Dr. 
Packard  himself  was  down  with  typhus.  Mr. 
Muller  writing  of  the  incident  says: 

"It  is  hard  to  tell  how  diplomats  are  able 
to  turn  delicate  situations  to  good  account, 
but  the  fact  is  they  do  it.  Before  we  left  the 
officer  that  evening,  he  had  been  persuaded 
by  Dr.  Shedd  that  it  would  not  be  wise  for 
his  soldiers  to  be  in  the  American  Hospital, 
and  a  plan  was  made  for  a  separate  hospital 
to  be  outfitted  near  the  city  for  the  soldiers, 
and  to  be  imder  the  superintendence  of  the 
Mission  medical  staff." 

A  native  woman  once  remarked,  "\Vhen 
Dr.  Shedd  speaks,  every  word  comes  to  its 
place  so  well  that  there  is  nothing  left  to  be 
said." 

There  was  occasionally  need  of  discipline 
within  our  yards.  There  was  no  way  of  admin- 
istering punishment  to  offenders  officially,  for 
no  one  had  money  to  pay  fines  and  they  could 
not  be  turned  over  to  others  no  matter  what 
they  did.  A  young  man  came  to  Dr.  Shedd 
complaining  that  another  youth  had  stolen  his 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     155 

shoes  and  was  wearing  them.  The  two 
men  were  ordered  to  come  to  Dr.  Shedd  in- 
formally in  the  yard  for  an  investigation. 
The  defendant  denied  the  charge.  Dr.  Shedd 
asked  the  plaintiff  where  he  had  bought  his 
shoes.  *'In  Chicago,  from  such  and  such  a 
firm,"  he  rephed.  Then  of  the  defendant, 
"^^Tiere  did  you  get  yours?"  "From  a  Rus- 
sian soldier  who  bought  them  in  Russia,"  he 
answered.  He  was  ordered  to  remove  his 
shoes;  the  trademark  bore  the  name  of  a 
Chicago  firm.  The  shoes  were  returned  to 
their  owner,  and  swift  punishment  was  meted 
out  to  the  thief,  such  as  sent  him  slinking  away, 
w^hile  the  large  and  appreciative  crowd  of 
spectators  marveled  at  the  wisdom  of  the 
sahib, 

"We  were  not  even  as  well  off  as  castaways 
on  a  desert  island,"  ^vrote  Dr.  Shedd,  "for 
we  had  no  assurance  that  the  storm  might  not 
overwhelm  the  premises  in  which  we  lived. 
To  change  the  figure,  we  had  to  steer  our 
ship  through  unnumbered  perils,  some  as  hid- 
den as  the  slinking  submarine.  Securing 
safety  was  not  a  problem  of  force  but  of  diplo- 
macy. We  could  to  a  limited  extent  urge  our 
rights  as  foreigners,  but  we  had  no  official 
status  and  excepting  when  it  suited  their  pur- 


156  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

pose,  the  Turks  refused  to  recognize  us  as 
having  the  quasi-official  position  given  us  by 
the  Persians.  This  came  to  a  direct  issue  on 
the  question  of  the  use  of  the  American  flag. 

"The  Turkish  officials  made  the  demand  first 
of  the  Persian  Governor  and  then  directly 
of  me  that  all  American  flags  be  taken  down, 
alleging  that  their  use  caused  a  feeling  of  inse- 
curity and  that  we  had  no  official  right  to  use 
them.  The  Persian  Governor  maintained  that 
we  should  keep  the  flag  over  our  own  premises 
and  this  was  finally  agreed  to  by  all.  We  were 
able  to  keep  the  matter  dragging  along  and 
not  one  of  a  score  of  American  flags  was  taken 
down  until  security  of  life  was  restored  by  the 
Russians.  Our  street  was  dominated  by  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  and  the  sight  was  like  a 
Fourth  of  July  and  a  Lucknow  siege.  The 
flag  was  never  so  beautiful  as  during  these 
months  of  peril,  and  I  believe  it  was  perform- 
ing its  true  mission  here  as  much  as  on  the  bat- 
tlefields of  the  Republic.  We  claimed  and 
maintained  an  unofficial  but  very  valuable  rep- 
resentative capacity  for  the  whole  Christian 
community  and  made  use  of  every  personal  in- 
fluence and  every  appeal  to  humanity  and 
prudence." 

The  flags  in  evidence  were  symbolic  of  the 


THE  ADVOCATE  OF  THE  CAPTIVES     157 

anomalous  situation.  There  were  the  Lion  and 
the  Sun  representing  nominal  Persian  author- 
ity, the  Star  and  the  Crescent  representing 
Turkish  military  authority,  the  German  flag 
of  a  few  unofficial  Germans,  and  the  Green 
flag  of  the  Holy  War  of  Islam,  which  added 
the  terror  of  fanatical  and  religious  hatred  to 
the  horrors  of  most  unholy  and  diabolical  war- 
fare. And  there  was  our  own  beloved  Stars 
and  Stripes  representing  all  that  was  highest 
and  best  in  Christian  civilization,  affording 
protection  and  shelter  to  the  helpless,  lending 
hope  to  the  desperate,  and  giving  assurance  of 
liberty  to  the  captive. 


CHAPTER  IX:  IN  THE  DEN 
OF  LIONS 

The  Turks  gave  assurances  of  security  to 
life  and  property  within  our  premises,  but 
only  eternal  vigilance  with  tact,  diplomacy, 
resourcefulness  and  patience,  combined  with 
the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  and  understanding 
of  those  with  whom  they  had  to  deal,  enabled 
the  missionaries  to  maintain  that  position. 

In  spite  of  the  weakness  of  the  acting  Per- 
sian authorities,  Dr.  Shedd  believed  from  the 
first  that  the  proper  course  was  to  work 
through  them  in  every  possible  way.  Conse- 
quently every  effort  was  made  to  keep  in  con- 
stant touch  with  them  and  with  the  principal 
Mohammedans  of  the  city.  Literally  hun- 
dreds of  calls  were  made  to  secure  this  result 
during  the  months  that  followed.  For  practi- 
cally everything  it  was  essential  to  have  the 
cooperation  of  the  Persians,  for  he  had  to 
appeal  for  everything  and  nothing  could  be 
had  without  asking.  Said  Dr.  Shedd,  "A  very 
real  and  most  efficient  help  given  unostentati- 
ously was  the  Governor's  refusal  to  hear  law- 

158 


IN  THE  DEN  OF  LIONS  159 

suits  against  Christians.  We  feared  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  from  such  complaints  based  on 
real  or  false  grievances.  There  was  practically 
none.  The  Governor  also  helped  in  prevent- 
ing or  moderating  demands  made  by  the 
Turks.  The  Oriental  ability  to  procrastinate 
never  did  better  service  than  in  his  hands." 

Dr.  Packard  was  in  a  position  to  make  the 
strongest  appeal  to  the  Kurds  and  was  very 
successful,  but  for  half  the  time  he  was  down 
with  typhus  and  the  responsibihty  fell  on  Dr. 
Shedd.  Rarely  has  a  missionary,  or  any  for- 
eigner, been  placed  in  a  position  demanding 
such  constant  and  intimate  dealings  with  Mo- 
hammedans so  diverse  in  race  and  rank. 

Often  in  order  to  talk  confidentially,  he  was 
taken  into  the  andurun  or  family  apartments. 
He  would  sit  on  one  side  of  the  hursi  and  his 
host  on  the  other,  with  feet  under  the  quilt  that 
covered  the  frame  of  the  brazier  of  charcoal 
while  they  sipped  the  tea  or  coffee.  Here  they 
could  talk  more  freely  and  speak  the  truth 
more  frankly  than  in  the  public  receiving  room. 
Persian  officials  seldom  have  private  offices 
and  the  only  way  to  transact  private  business 
is  to  get  close  up  to  the  official  and  whisper 
in  his  ear,  which  method  is  not  without  its  em- 
barrassments. 


160  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

"The  people  who  came  to  see  me  were  more 
varied  than  those  I  went  to  see,"  said  Dr. 
Shedd.  "They  included  the  higher  ranks  but 
among  them  were  more  of  the  poorer  Moham- 
medans. Some  were  spies  or  fawning  hypo- 
crites, but  many  Moslems  were  sincerely  desir- 
ous of  helping.  In  Persia,  tea  or  coffee  is  the 
adjunct  to  business  or  diplomacy  and  one  or 
the  other  is  served  to  all  visitors.  The  incon- 
gruity of  punctilious  ceremony  with  the 
wretchedness  around  us  was  trying.  Some 
who  came  to  me  wanted  help  in  government 
matters.  My  hands  were  too  full  and  affairs 
too  uncertain  to  listen  to  such,  unless  the  safety 
of  Christians  was  involved.  Others  had  infor- 
mation from  the  outside  world  which  had  to  be 
whispered  in  my  ear.  To  separate  truth  from 
fancy  or  dehberate  falsehood  was  not  easy." 

From  the  first  the  Turks  made  both  public 
and  private  promises  to  the  Christians  that 
they  might  secure  safety  by  taking  out  and 
paying  cash  for  certificates  sealed  by  both 
Turkish  and  Persian  officials  and  many  did 
this.  The  Christians  were  notified  that  all 
arms  must  be  surrendered  and  in  our  yards  we 
collected  a  motley  lot  of  rifles,  pistols  and  dag- 
gers and  turned  them  over  to  the  Turks. 

Dr.  Shedd  found  the  Turks  ugly  to  deal 


IN  THE  DEN  OF  LIONS  161 

with  and  there  were  many  trying  questions. 
Their  first  method  of  blackmail  was  the  con- 
fiscation of  the  shops  of  Christians  in  the 
bazaar  with  their  stores  of  wheat,  raisins,  etc. 
It  was  evident  that  this  was  only  a  beginning 
and  that  houses  would  follow  the  shops.  An 
arrangement  was  made  that  by  the  payment 
of  money  the  Turks  should  give  a  guarantee 
for  the  safety  of  shops  belonging  to  Persian 
Christian  subjects  who  had  not  fled  with  the 
Russians.  The  arrangement  was  made 
through  the  Persian  Government  with  prom- 
ises that  there  should  be  no  further  acts  of 
confiscation,  but  the  business  was  the  source  of 
much  worry  and  trouble  and  the  Turks  kept 
faith  grudgingly  and  in  some  instances  broke 
it.  Another  method  of  blackmail  was  the 
arrest  of  men  of  means  whom  they  held  for 
ransom. 

Dr.  Shedd  said  of  his  dealings  with  the 
Turks:  "The  Turkish  officials  are  less  cere- 
monious than  the  Persians  and  usually  less 
affable.  The  most  important  Turk  I  met, 
when  we  passed  out  after  paying  our  respects, 
said  to  another  caller,  'These  people  are  our 
enemies,  nicht  wahr?^  He  spoke  German. 
My  constant  companion  till  fever  laid  him  low 
was  Dr.  Isaac  Daniel,  a  Syrian,  better  known 


162  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

by  the  title  given  him  by  the  Persians  of  Loh- 
man.  He  had  a  wide  acquaintance  among 
Mohammedans  and  was  most  devoted  and  in- 
defatigable. He  died  later  of  pneumonia. 
The  word  that  was  the  burden  of  our  plea  was 
amniat,  security,  and  I  would  argue  and  Lok- 
man  would  storm  and  weep.  We  appealed  to 
village  owners  to  help  their  subjects,  to  men 
of  wealth  for  money  or  wheat  to  feed  the  starv- 
ing, to  mullahs  in  the  name  of  religion  and 
humanity,  and  to  others  on  the  ground  that 
'every  day  has  its  morrow,'  and  hence  a  reck- 
oning might  come.  We  worked  for  the  release 
of  captive  girls  and  for  men  who  were  held  by 
the  Turks  for  ransom.  We  had  to  be  appre- 
ciative for  favors,  real  or  pretended,  and  at 
times  it  was  necessary  to  be  outspoken  and 
bold. 

"Many  matters  under  consideration  were 
revolting;  for  example,  it  was  not  easy 
patiently  to  discuss  with  official  representatives 
of  a  government  the  payment  of  money  to  save 
an  innocent  man  from  hanging.  The  outstand- 
ing case  of  this  sort  was  the  Bishop,  Mar  Elia. 
He  was  a  native  of  Urumia,  a  Syrian,  and  a 
Bishop  in  the  Russian  Orthodox  Church, 
After  various  alarms  and  payment  of  bribes, 
he  was  seized  by  Turkish  soldiers  on  the  roof 


IN  THE  DEN  OF  LIONS  163 

of  our  church,  where  he  was  hiding,  unknown 
to  us.  Ten  thousand  tomans  were  demanded 
for  his  ransom.  I  immediately  appealed  to 
the  Persian  Governor  for  his  release.  A  great 
assemblage  of  the  Persians  of  the  city,  mul- 
lahs, merchants  and  officials,  went  to  the 
Turks  in  Oriental  style,  saying  he  had  been 
a  friend  of  Moslems  and  was  not  guilty  of 
political  intrigues,  but  they  were  unmercifully 
snubbed  by  the  Turks.  After  weeks  of  wait- 
ing and  negotiating,  he  was  ransomed  for  five 
thousand  tomans.  The  Turkish  Consul  urged 
me  for  'humanity's  sake'  to  rescue  him  from 
them,  apparently  unconscious  of  the  humor  of 
the  situation." 

Some  time  after  this  Dr.  Lokman,  Dr. 
Shedd's  companion  in  his  calls,  was  seized 
while  attending  a  patient.  That  evening  word 
came  from  the  Turks  that  all  unransomed  pris- 
oners would  be  shot  at  midnight.  It  seemed 
incredible,  but  the  Turks  had  proved  them- 
selves capable  of  any  atrocity.  Every  effort 
was  made  to  arrange  the  ransoms  of  each  at 
the  lowest  possible  figure.  Dr.  Lokman  was 
in  special  danger.  There  was  need  of  haste, 
and  go-betweens  "cut  the  price"  for  him  at  a 
thousand  tomans.  Turkish  gold  must  be 
found.     Men  were  sent  through  the  yards  to 


164  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

find  "brides"  or  young  married  women  who 
might  have  some  of  these  gold  liras,  each  worth 
about  five  dollars,  left  from  their  wedding 
dowry  and  frequently  worn  in  necklaces. 
They  began  to  bring  them  in,  first  one  by 
one,  then  in  larger  quantities,  for  they  would 
buy  the  life  of  one  of  the  influential  physicians 
of  their  people,  and  no  one  held  back  the  price. 
A  message  came  that  the  Persian  Governor 
had  been  ordered  by  the  Turks  to  send  eight 
men  to  the  firing  squad  in  case  the  ransom  was 
not  ready.  No  time  could  be  lost.  Friends 
joined  in  prayer  groups  while  the  money  was 
counted.  Eight  hundred  tomans  were  ready, 
and  not  daring  to  wait  longer,  two  hundred 
in  silver  were  taken  from  our  safe  and  sent  in 
haste,  a  man's  ransom,  and  a  much  higher  val- 
uation than  the  Turk  usually  places  upon  the 
life  of  a  Christian.  There  was  another  hour 
of  anxious  waiting  for  friends  and  for  the 
wife  who  sat  trembling  and  fearing  for  the 
worst,  then  Dr.  Lokman  arrived  at  the  Mis- 
sion. His  first  thought  was  for  those  still  in 
jeopardy.  There  were  prayers  of  thanksgiv- 
ing and  consecration  and  Dr.  Lokman,  as  one 
raised  from  the  dead,  with  his  wife,  returned 
to  their  home  and  the  waiting  children.     The 


IN  THE  DEN  OF  LIONS  165 

ransom  price  was  repaid  to  the  donors  soon 
after  by  Dr.  Lokman. 

Said  Dr.  Shedd,  telling  of  the  rescue  of 
women  and  girls:  "Over  two  hundred  girls  and 
women  were  taken  in  order  forcibly  to  convert 
them  to  Islam  and  marry  them  to  Moslems. 
We  secured  the  return  of  more  than  sixty  be- 
sides those  brought  to  us  voluntarily.  Some 
we  paid  money  for,  the  highest  price  being 
thirty  dollars.  The  Moslem  law,  as  accepted 
in  Persia,  provides  that  in  all  cases  of  alleged 
conversion  to  Islam,  there  should  be  an  oppor- 
tunity for  delay  before  the  decision,  and  for 
public  examination.  We  were  unable  to  secure 
the  delay,  but  we  were  able  through  the  Per- 
sian Governor,  to  have  girls  brought  in  for 
examination  and  in  a  number  of  cases,  to 
secure  their  freedom.  The  Governor  was  very 
fair  in  his  conduct  of  these  cases,  though  we 
had  to  fee  his  subordinates  pretty  freely  in 
order  to  get  their  cooperation.  The  examina- 
tion was  usually  before  those  who  happened  to 
be  present  at  the  Governor's  and  it  was  an 
ordeal  for  the  girl.  I  found  it  very  important 
to  have  the  girls'  relatives  see  them  first  in 
private  in  order  to  assure  them  that  their 
friends  were  really  living  and  that  there  was 


166  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

safety.  They  had  usually  been  told  that  all 
or  nearly  all  their  friends  had  been  killed.  In 
theory,  a  decision  to  accept  Islam  is  irrevocable. 
Once  when  both  girls  involved  were  under 
fourteen,  my  protest  at  the  irrevocable  deci- 
sion, involving  separation  from  kindred  and 
ancestral  faith,  being  required  of  such  children, 
was  met  by  the  stern  reply  from  a  Kurdish 
mirza,  who,  hawklike,  was  watching  the  pro- 
ceedings, that  in  Mohammedan  law,  the  age  of 
consent  is  nine  years. 

"The  case  I  fought  hardest  was  one  in  which 
two  villagers,  enlisted  as  Turkish  soldiers,  had 
each  taken  a  girl.  Only  b}^  going  to  the  village 
where  one  was  and  facing  the  Kurds  and  Mos- 
lems, were  we  able  to  get  the  girls  at  all.  The 
poor  girls  were  taken  twice  to  the  Turkish 
Consulate,  kept  over  night  at  a  mullalis  and 
when  the  'civilized'  Turkish  Consul  was  satis- 
fied that  they  were  too  frightened  to  speak  out, 
they  were  produced  for  examination.  I  urged 
in  vain  that  an  opportunity  be  given  relatives 
to  talk  with  the  girls  alone.  After  a  stiff  dis- 
cussion on  my  part  with  the  secretary  sent  by 
the  Consul,  the  girls  were  formally  asked  for 
a  decision.  One  of  them  I  took  home  and  I 
never  felt  so  like  a  victor  in  a  hard  won  fight. 
Needless  to  say,  the  Consul  never  fulfilled  his 


IN  THE  BEN  OF  LIONS  167 

promise  to  have  the  soldier  punished  if  the  girl 
stated  she  had  been  taken  by  force. 

"The  most  dramatic  case  was  the  first  one 
at  the  Governor's.  The  town  was  full  of 
Kurds  and  I  made  my  way  through  masses 
of  armed  horsemen  dressed  in  picturesque, 
bright-colored  Kurdish  clothes.  Their  rifles, 
of  which  they  were  very  proud,  and  their  cart- 
ridge belts,  were  on  display,  the  latter  strung 
across  their  chests.  When  I  entered  the  Gov- 
ernor's room,  it  was  full  of  Mangur  Kurdish 
chiefs.  I  was  given  a  seat  above  most  of  them, 
and  as  I  sat  there  and  heard  and  watched  these 
men,  talking  and  drinking  tea  with  them  my- 
self, it  seemed  like  a  strange  dream.  The 
Mangur  Kurds  are  a  curiosity  anyhow,  many 
of  them  looking  like  savage,  old-time  Teutons. 
Their  chief,  Bayiz  Pasha,  was  a  big  man,  fair 
and  blue-eyed.  Possibly  they  are  relics  of  some 
stranded  Teutonic  tribe,  or  of  captives  taken 
in  the  Crusades.  They  had  come  expecting  to 
kill  all  the  Christians  and  I  knew  it.  The  talk 
as  we  sat  there  was  of  how  they  were  going 
to  Tiflis  to  take  the  Caucasus. 

"After  a  while  they  left,  and  the  girl  was 
brought  in  with  the  Moslem  who  had  taken  her 
off  and  forced  on  her  a  marriage.  "When  she 
told  how  she  had  been  taken  and  kept  by 


168  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  ]MAX 

force,  though  she  hardly  dared  to  tell  the  truth, 
even  with  nie  there,  the  Governor  told  her  she 
was  free,  and  ordered  the  man  to  he  tied  up 
and  bastinadoed.  He  was  a  neighbor  and  she 
had  fled  to  his  house  for  refuge.  As  we  went 
out  of  the  yard,  the  girl  was  tremblingly  prais- 
ing God,  scarcely  believing  that  she  was  free. 
The  man  was  howling  with  pain  under  the 
blows  on  the  soles  of  his  feet  as  he  lay  on  his 
back.  The  Persians  and  Kurds  stood  around 
staring  in  amazement.  It  was  a  precedent  of 
great  value  and  a  courageous  act  by  a  cautious 
but  himiane  ^Moslem  Governor.  It  was  also 
an  act  of  Providence,  and  when  I  went  home 
that  night  and  told  the  story,  was  it  any  won- 
der that  I  added  that  I  had  been  with  Daniel 
in  the  den  of  lions?" 

Many  Christians  were  scattered  in  ^loslem 
villages  and  it  fell  chiefly  to  Dr.  Packard  and 
JNIr.  Allen  to  plan  for  their  safety  and  to  rescue 
those  in  danger,  visiting  the  villages  when  no 
native  Christian  dared  move  about.  !Mr.  Allen 
with  a  small  guard  would  be  gone  several  days 
at  a  time,  hunting  up  lost  girls,  recovering 
property,  and  listing  casualties.  The  girls 
were  found  in  all  sorts  of  places,  dressed  in 
Moslem  clothes  and  too  frightened  to  declare 
they  were  not  ^loslems.     Sometimes  by  bluff. 


IX  THE  DEX  OF  LIOXS  169 

sometimes  by  daring,  and  a  few  times  by  the 
help  of  the  Turkish  guard  who  rode  with  him, 
he  succeeded  in  taking  the  girls  back  to  the 
city  with  him.  We  were  using  every  pressure 
to  induce  the  people  to  leave  our  crow^ded 
yards  and  go  back  to  the  villages  to  live. 
Guards  were  placed  in  each  village.  Then 
some  fresh  atrocity  would  occur  which  would 
send  them  flying  back  to  the  missionaries  in 
terror,  and  it  was  Mr.  Allen's  work  to  encour- 
age them  to  hold  on  and  brave  the  dangers  of 
the  village  rather  than  risk  the  epidemics  in  the 
city.  But  always  their  cry  was,  "Let  us  die 
by  the  hand  of  God,  and  not  by  our  enemies." 
Even  within  our  yards  the  fear  of  the  Turks 
or  the  Persians  w- as  always  upon  them.  A  very 
small  excitement  would  start  a  panic,  all 
would  rush  toward  the  houses  of  the  mission- 
aries, while  sobs  and  wails  filled  the  air  and, 
as  they  said,  their  "hearts  burst."  We  learned 
to  know  the  sound  of  a  great  multitude,  frantic 
with  fear,  and  as  we  never  knew  what  atrocity 
the  "unspeakable  Turk"  might  be  devising,  it 
usually  set  our  own  hearts  to  thumping  as  we 
tried  to  quiet  the  people. 

In  February  Raghib  Bey,  former  Turkish 
Consul,  returned  to  Urumia  full  of  smooth 
promises,  and  issued  a  proclamation  assuring 


170  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

protection  to  everybody.  A  few  days  later 
fifty  men  who  had  been  taken  from  the  French 
Mission  were  shot  two  miles  from  the  city  by 
order  of  the  Turks.  This  was  shortly  followed 
by  the  massacre  at  Gulpashan,  a  Christian 
town  six  miles  from  the  city,  which  was  under 
guard  of  Turkish  soldiers.  A  band  of  Turks 
and  Persians  went  there  at  night,  took  fifty 
men  from  their  homes  and  shot  them  in  the 
graveyard.  They  then  plundered  the  town  and 
systematically  violated  every  woman  and  girl 
who  did  not  succeed  in  making  her  escape.  A 
little  later  seventy  Christians  who  had  been 
used  by  the  Turks  for  carrying  loads  were 
taken  into  a  mountain  valley  and  shot  in  cold 
blood. 

The  Syrians  have  always  been  an  inoffen- 
sive people,  and  their  cruel  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  Turks  and  Persians  is  inexplicable. 
The  story  is  told  that  once  there  were  two 
Kurdish  chiefs  who  disputed  as  to  which  of 
them  was  the  rightful  owner  of  a  certain 
Syrian  village.  Both  had  great  respect  for 
the  pastor  of  that  village  and  agreed  to  leave 
to  him  to  decide  which  of  them  he  and  his 
people  would  choose  for  their  master.  It  was 
a  serious  dilemma  for  the  pastor,  for  which- 
ever chief  was  not  chosen  would  forever  after- 


IN  THE  DEN  OF  LIONS  171 

wards  annoy  and  rob  the  village.  The  old  man 
pondered  deeply,  then  replied,  "Two  oxen 
were  once  quarreling  over  a  bundle  of  hay. 
How  could  the  hay  choose  to  which  it 
belonged?  Its  part  was  only  to  be  eaten." 
And  so  it  seemed  was  the  fate  of  these  people. 

It  was  Dr.  Shedd  who  during  all  those  aw- 
ful times,  had  to  face  the  Turks  as  intercessor 
for  the  people,  with  pleas  and  protests.  "I 
saw  the  Turk  as  little  as  possible,  doing  busi- 
ness through  the  Persian  authorities,"  he  wrote, 
"but  the  day  after  the  Gulpashan  affair,  I 
called  on  Raghib  Bey.  He  suavely  asked  what 
word  I  had.  I  said,  bluntly  as  I  could,  that 
the  word  was  that  his  soldiers  were  massa- 
cring innocent  people,  outraging  women,  and 
robbing  villages.  He  had  not  much  to  say, 
but  promised  to  stop  such  affairs.  It  was  all 
hard  work  against  fearful  odds  and  with  small 
means  at  our  disposal,  except  the  help  of  Al- 
mighty God. 

"Through  all  these  months,  our  faith  was 
sorely  tried,  and  often  it  seemed  as  if  we  had 
reached  the  limit  of  our  resources,  and  that  the 
end  might  be  a  great  catastrophe.  Ileal 
friends  were  few  and  weak.  Those  who  had 
power  had  little  inclination  to  help.  We  cared 
for  the  Turkish  sick  without  charge  and  we 


172  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

were  careful  to  preserve  neutrality  in  every 
way;  but  the  treatment  we  received  from  the 
Turks  was  often  discourteous  and  overbearing, 
and  any  help  rendered  by  them  was  grudgingly 
given. 

"The  Turks  were  suave  and  usually  talked 
the  loftiest  morality.  Two  things  became 
fixed  convictions.  One  is  that  the  highest 
motives,  as  a  rule,  are  the  most  effective  to  use 
in  appeal.  The  other  is  that  straightforward 
sincerity  is  the  most  effective  weapon  in  deal- 
ing with  crafty  Orientals.  The  highest 
motives  are  those  of  humanity  and  of  what  the 
Apostle  James  calls,  'pure  religion  and  un- 
defiled.'  Straightforward  disinterestedness 
wins  confidence  and  disarms  opposition,  while 
the  trickster  does  not  know  how  to  parry  it  as 
he  does  the  wiles  and  lies  he  deals  in  himself. 

"During  these  months,  the  one  institution  in 
the  community  that  held  its  ground,  was  the 
Protestant  Mission.  More  than  this,  the  mis- 
sionaries were  able  to  deal  with  some  success 
with  every  one  of  the  many  diverse  parties  that 
had  to  be  met.  There  was  no  one  of  any  in- 
fluence in  the  community  whom  we  did  not 
meet  on  such  terms  as  to  be  able  to  speak  for 
the  oppressed.  This  would  have  been  true  of 
absolutely  no  one  else  in  the  community.     The 


IN  THE  DEN  OF  LIONS  173 

unifying  and  mediating  force  there  was  the 
Mission.  The  reason  lies  in  the  character  of 
the  work  as  expressing  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
far  more  than  in  the  person  of  any  or  all  the 
missionaries.'* 


CHAPTER  X:  ABIDING  IN  THE 
SHADOWS 

With  the  exception  of  the  city  people,  the 
refugees  who  crowded  our  compounds,  came 
empty-handed  and  as  we  heard  the  command, 
"Give  ye  them  to  eat,"  hke  the  disciples  of  old, 
we  replied,  "WTience,  Lord,  should  we  have  so 
much  bread  as  to  fill  so  great  a  multitude?" 
If  we  had  reahzed  then  that  the  feeding  would 
continue  many  months,  while  we  were  cut  off 
from  the  outside  world  and  the  source  of  our 
money  supply,  we  would  have  declared  it  im- 
possible. But  as  the  days  went  by  with  their 
increasing  demands,  the  loaves  were  multiplied. 
With  nothing  but  borrowed  funds,  no  word 
from  America,  the  city  drained  of  cash  by  the 
Turks,  we  felt  that  we  could  give  but  one  loaf 
of  about  ten  and  a  half  ounces  to  each  needy 
person  daily.  Many  were  able  to  supplement 
it  with  something  else  and  so  got  along.  For- 
tunately the  crops  had  been  abundant  and 
wheat  was  cheap.  While  there  were  few  who 
died  directly  from  starvation,  hundreds,  weak- 
ened by  insufficient  and  improper  food,  were 

174 


ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS  175 

unable  to  resist  disease,  and  were  soon  carried 
to  the  terrible  trenches  in  Mart  Maryam's  ( St. 
Mary's)  graveyard. 

After  the  people  were  scattered  into  the  ad- 
jacent sections,  we  made  distribution  to  more 
than  two  hundred  yards  and  buildings  outside 
our  premises.  The  largest  number  that  we 
fed  at  any  one  time  was  about  fifteen  thousand. 
During  the  month  of  March  the  average 
amount  of  bread  distributed  daily  was  over  six 
tons  and  all  was  brought  in  on  the  backs  of 
hammcds  or  porters.  Many  refugees  were 
able  to  feed  themselves  during  the  whole  time 
and  others  had  small  sums  of  money  which  they 
used  as  long  as  it  lasted.  There  was  a  demand 
for  tea  and  a  few  staples,  and  since  the  refugees 
could  not  leave  our  yards  to  make  purchases, 
licenses  were  sold  to  a  few  men  permitting  them 
to  sell  tea  and  some  necessities  in  the  yards. 
We  had  a  tea  stand  and  used  the  proceeds  of 
sales  and  licenses  for  giving  tea,  eggs  and  milk 
to  the  sick.  The  first  three  months,  over  a 
thousand  dollars  was  cleared  in  this  way  and 
five  or  six  hundred  sick  people  benefited  by  it 
for  several  weeks.  Later  the  refugees  had  less 
money  to  spend.  We  tried  to  induce  the  Mos- 
lem village  masters  to  provide  for  their  tenants 
whom  we  were  feeding,  but  little  came  of  it. 


176  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

Small  contributions  were  made  by  individual 
Moslems. 

The  problem  of  finances  devolved  upon  the 
treasurer,  Mr.  Muller,  who  never  relaxed  his 
efficient  control  and  management,  no  matter 
what  the  distractions.  The  first  few  days 
after  the  Russian  evacuation,  the  Christians 
deposited  with  him  for  safe-keeping  about 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  This  was  received 
on  condition  that  we  be  allowed  to  use  it  in 
emergency,  and  repay  after  banking  was  re- 
sumed. 

The  Armenian  agent  of  the  English  bank, 
before  leaving  with  the  Russians,  called  upon 
Dr.  Shedd  and  asked  him  to  receive  ten  thou- 
sand tomans  in  silver.  It  was  accepted  by  the 
treasurer  on  condition  that  he  use  it  as  part  of 
the  regular  funds  of  the  treasury.  The  Turks 
later  demanded  it  as  contraband  of  war. 
There  were  many  conferences  and  great  anxi- 
ety, for  by  that  time  the  loss  of  that  money 
would  have  left  our  treasury  empty,  but  the 
missionaries  finally  refused  to  give  it  up,  and 
the  Turks  never  quite  made  up  their  minds  to 
take  it  by  force. 

Our  largest  and  most  constant  expense  was 
for  bread.  There  were  presents  for  the  rescue 
of  girls  and  women,  for  guards  for  all  our 


ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS  177 

premises,  government  and  legal  expenses,  big 
war  levies,  blackmail,  and  ransoms  demanded 
by  the  Turks.  Money  was  necessary  for  the 
missionaries  and  helpers  for  home  expenses. 
There  were  scavengers,  hundreds  of  sick,  and 
the  burial  of  three  thousand.  The  money  had 
to  be  found,  and  we  borrowed  to  an  extent 
that  no  one  else  could  possibly  have  done, 
though  the  only  security  we  could  offer  was 
personal  character  and  the  standing  of  the  Mis- 
sion in  the  community. 

With  such  meager  feeding,  together  with 
crowded  and  unsanitary  conditions,  it  was  in- 
evitable that  pestilence  and  death  should  fol- 
low.    There  were  practically  no  bathing  or 
washing  facilities,  no  underground  drainage  or 
sewerage.     A  large  proportion  of  the  refugees 
were  crude  and  ignorant,  as  many  as  two  thou- 
sand of  them  mountaineers  clothed  in  rags  and 
vermin.     Persians  have  the  convenient  theory 
that  running  water  quickly  purifies  itself,  so 
the  same  streams  are  used  for  drinking  and 
for  bathing  and  washing  clothes.    Ordinarily, 
the  sewage  is  drained  into  wells  which  are  peri- 
odically emptied,  the  contents  dried  in  the  sun, 
mixed  with  earth,  carried  off  on  donkeys,  and 
used  as  fertilizer.    We  often  had  difficulty  in 
getting  donkeys  for  this  work  and  frequently 


178  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

appeals  had  to  be  made  to  the  Governor.  In 
some  of  our  buildings  it  was  not  a  question  of 
sweeping  but  of  shoveling  out  the  mud  and  dirt 
carried  in  on  the  feet  of  the  hundreds  passing 
through. 

Rev.  E.  W.  McDowell  was  in  charge  of  san- 
itation. He  established  a  scavenger  system, 
and  patrolled  all  the  streams  to  prevent  con- 
tamination, for  the  greater  part  of  the  people 
were  compelled  to  drink  from  these  streams. 
Connected  with  sanitation  was  the  burial  of 
the  dead.  Twice  a  day  the  dead  were  collected 
from  the  various  yards  and  buildings  and 
brought  to  the  room  used  as  a  morgue  at  the 
gate.  From  there  they  were  taken,  usually 
without  shroud  or  coffin,  to  the  trenches  in  the 
cemetery.  The  number  of  the  dead  rose  as 
high  as  thirty-five  and  even  more  in  a  day. 
One  morning  fifteen  children  and  eight  adults 
were  taken  from  the  crowded  church,  the  toll 
for  one  night.  During  the  siege,  Dr.  McDow- 
ell attended  to  the  burial  of  three  thousand. 

Dr.  Shedd  once  remarked  that  it  would  have 
been  a  sad  commentary  on  us  as  missionaries 
if  we  had  been  so  protected  as  to  escape  a  share 
in  the  sickness,  suffering  and  death  that  came 
to  the  people  whom  we  served.  There  were 
eighteen  adults  and  nine  children  in  our  station 


ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS  179 

at  the  beginning  of  the  siege,  besides  three 
Americans  at  Christ's  Home  for  Children. 
Fourteen  of  the  adults  and  two  of  the  children 
had  either  typhoid  or  typhus  and  three  died. 
We  dwelt  so  long  in  the  valley  of  death  with 
the  sick,  the  hungry,  the  dying,  the  never  ceas- 
ing wail,  hands  outstretched  for  what  we  could 
not  give,  and  our  own  number  coming  down 
one  after  the  other,  that  each  went  about  his 
work  knowing  that  he  might  be  the  next.  Yet 
we  managed  to  keep  fairly  cheerful  and  fre- 
quently found  occasions  for  laughing. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  hospital  where  were 
several  hundred  patients,  when  the  physician 
in  charge,  his  chief  assistant-physician,  who 
died,  the  matron,  druggist,  steward,  the 
nurses,  cooks  and  washer -women  were  all  sick 
together,  and  every  missionary  who  went  to  the 
hospital  to  help  came  down  in  turn. 

Mademoiselle  Perrochet,  a  young  Swiss  girl 
who  four  months  before  had  come  to  Urumia 
as  teacher  for  the  missionary  children,  died 
February  25.  On  April  16  Mrs.  Mary  Coe 
McDowell  died.  She  came  to  Persia  in  1887 
and  spent  most  of  her  missionary  years  in  Tur- 
key at  Mosul,  Van,  and  in  the  mountain  dis- 
tricts, and  had  learned  to  "endure  hardships 
as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ."     In  her 


180  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

quiet  efficient  way  she  had  faithfully  served 
the  sufTering  about  her,  particularly  the  poor 
mountain  women,  whom  she  considered  her  spe- 
cial responsibility. 

All  through  the  winter  the  people  had  not 
ceased  to  pray  that  Dr.  Shedd  might  be  kept 
in  health.  "O  Lord,  spare  that  man,  we  can- 
not do  without  him,"  was  the  prayer  of  many 
hearts.  Upon  him  more  than  upon  any  other 
depended  the  fate  of  the  imprisoned  thousands. 
He  could  not  be  in  his  own  home  at  the  College, 
so  he  was  provided  for  in  the  Allen  home.  The 
excellent  care  and  the  prayers  worked  together 
for  good,  and  Dr.  Shedd  was  one  of  the  five 
missionaries  who  escaped  the  fever. 

When  Mrs.  Shedd  was  taken  ill,  she  was 
brought  to  the  Muller  home  in  the  city,  as  the 
situation  was  too  critical  for  Dr.  Shedd  to  go 
to  the  College.  Writing  of  her  last  days  he 
said: 

"I  was  able  to  come  in  and  out  a  great  many 
times  and  I  slept  in  the  house.  This  was  a 
great  relief  to  me  and  I  am  sure  a  comfort  to 
Louise.  I  could  not  let  go  of  things.  With 
thousands  dependent  on  us,  we  were  in  too 
perilous  a  situation  to  relax  the  watch,  and  yet 
to  have  been  separated  those  days  would  have 


ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS  181 

been  agony.  Around  us  were  literally  hun- 
dreds of  sick  and  a  province  in  anarchy. 

"On  Saturday  the  Turks  had  evacuated  and 
the  city  and  country  were  in  a  turmoil.  I  had 
to  attend  an  assembly  at  the  Governor's  to 
plan  for  the  safety  of  the  people  as  best  I  could. 
On  Monday  morning  it  was  evident  that  not 
many  hours  remained.  I  asked  to  have  the 
children  brought,  and  they  reached  the  yard 
just  as  Louise  breathed  the  last  quiet  breath 
at  ten  o'clock.     [May  IT,  1915.] 

"The  expressions  of  sympathy  have  been 
very  many,  and  from  all  sorts  of  people,  on  the 
street  and  in  the  Governor's  dewankhana,  by 
callers  and  the  missionary  friends. 

"There  have  been  the  anarchy,  the  killing 
and  robbing,  the  anxious  times  and  very  real 
perils,  the  months  of  waiting,  the  terrible  epi- 
demics, the  sad  crowds  of  people,  the  long 
bread  line  every  day,  and  the  assurance  in  it 
all  of  God's  care  and  help. 

"We  are  still  living  under  the  Flag  and  we 
know  as  never  before  how  beautiful  the  Flag  is. 
Ours  are  tattered  and  torn  like  battle  flags  and 
I  can  not  but  believe  that  we  have  been  fighting 
the  battle  for  the  best  things  the  Flag  stands 
for,  and  that  we  have  the  highest  right  to  keep 


182  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

it  flying,  even  if  the  Turks  were  anxious  to 
get  it  down. 

"What  can  one  say  at  such  a  time?"  he  wrote 
a  little  later.  "The  easiest  thing  for  me  to  do 
is  just  to  go  straight  ahead  with  work.  There 
is  enough  to  do.  Yesterday  I  made  nine  calls : 
two  on  the  Governor,  two  on  the  commander 
of  the  small  Russian  force,  and  the  rest  on 
various  others.  I  had  to  see  a  rascal  has- 
tinadoed  on  my  complaint  for  molesting  Sy- 
rians, had  to  advise  the  two  Mujtahids  through 
their  friends,  as  to  whether  they  can  wisely 
stay  here;  had  letters  from  the  Sulduz  khans 
wanting  protection  when  the  Russians  come; 
had  at  least  twenty  other  cases  to  advise  and 
decide.  To-day  is  Sunday  and  I  want  to  get 
off  with  half  a  day  in  the  city,  but  no  one  can 
tell  how  it  will  come  out.  Two  things  are  clear 
in  my  hfe,  that  my  work  is  in  Persia  and  that 
I  must  personally  be  to  my  children  all  that  I 
can.  I  want  to  live  long  enough  to  do  my 
part.  If  this  winter  and  spring  have  taught 
anything,  it  is  that  we  cannot  be  sure  of  fin- 
ishing anything  here. 

"This  is  a  poor  account  of  some  very  anx- 
ious and  confused  weeks.  There  were  reports 
and  hopes,  fugitives,  fears  of  massacre  at  the 
last  moment,  difficult  and  important  decisions 


ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS  183 

to  be  made  for  both  Moslems  and  Christians. 
It  was  hard  not  to  fail  in  the  work  that  seemed 
to  be  mine  to  do,  but  I  think  that  I  did  not 
fail  and  I  am  sm*e  that  Louise  would  have  had 
me  do  it." 

Mrs.  Packard,  who  lived  close  to  Louise 
Shedd,  says  of  her : 

"She  was  always  so  dependable,  so  ready 
to  help  by  a  merry  joke,  by  suggesting  a  book 
to  read,  by  common-sense  advice,  in  a  hundred 
different  ways  by  'just  being  there.'  The  sick- 
ness of  Mademoiselle  Perrochet  and  her  death 
on  February  25,  caused  much  sorrow  to  us  all. 
I  said  to  Louise  that  it  made  me  think  of  the 
Psalmist's  words,  'All  thy  waves  and  thy  bil- 
lows have  gone  over  me.'  Louise  got  her  Bible 
and  looking  up  the  verse  said,  'Let's  read  what 
comes  after  that,  "Yet  Jehovah  will  command 
His  loving  kindness  in  the  daytime  and  in  the 
night  His  song  shall  be  with  me."  ' 

"The  day  we  buried  Mrs.  McDowell  in  the 
garden,  Louise  said  to  me,  'I  wonder  if  there 
will  be  another  grave  here.'  Then  she  added 
quickly,  *But  we  mustn't  think  such  things  or 
we'll  get  to  pitying  ourselves,  and  that's  fatal.' 
She  went  straight  on  with  a  brave,  glad  face, 
whatever  happened  to  overthrow  her.  She 
was  so  steadfast  herself  always,  so  loyal  to  the 


184.  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

work  and  to  the  Master  of  the  work,  the  con- 
sideration of  self  always  came  second." 

Several  months  after  they  were  past,  Dr. 
Shedd  summed  up  the  experiences  of  those 
days:  "How  the  threads  of  individual  sorrow 
are  woven  into  the  web  of  common  woe  was 
vividly  seen  in  the  funerals.  Some  of  us  could 
not  leave  our  posts  to  be  present  when  Made- 
moiselle Perrochet's  body  was  laid  away. 
After  all  was  ready  for  Mrs.  McDowell's 
burial,  we  had  to  wait  a  day  because  the  streets 
were  full  of  Hahl  Bey's  soldiers.  When  the 
time  came  to  lay  the  body  of  Mrs.  Shedd  be- 
side the  others,  neither  of  the  two  men  beside 
myself  who  were  not  too  weak,  dared  to  leave 
the  city  yards,  and  Mr.  Neesan  read  the  burial 
service.  All  three  and  the  little  baby  who 
came  to  the  Muller  home  only  to  leave  it,  were 
buried  in  the  garden  at  the  College,  till  it  should 
become  safe  to  move  them  to  the  cemetery  on 
Mount  Seir. 

"The  external  perils  and  guardianship  oi 
these  helpless  people  required  an  intensity  and 
concentration  of  mind  and  service,  that  were 
in  themselves  our  salvation.  The  sense  of  our 
own  weakness  and  the  inadequacy  of  all  the 
means  at  our  disposal  had  the  double  effect  of 
making  us  quick  to  use  every  possible  means 


ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS  185 

and  of  throwing  us  back  into  the  arms  of  the 
Heavenly  Father.  Night  after  night  as  I  re- 
tired, and  so  came  to  the  only  time  there  was 
quietly  to  review  the  situation,  I  would  go  to 
rest  with  the  overwhelming  feeling  of  the  in- 
sufficiency of  all  the  means  that  we  could  use 
and  the  upholding  sense  of  faith.  We  were 
never  alone.  The  Great  Companion  was  al- 
ways present. 

"The  sense  of  a  great  work  was  a  sustaining 
power,  and  with  it  the  sense  of  accomplishment. 
Truly  the  great  tribulation  of  our  day  is  as- 
suring many  of  what  its  tragedies  seem  to  ques- 
tion, the  love  of  the  Father,  and  is  giving  to 
many  a  new  realization  of  the  possibilities  of 
life.  Our  life  was  in  accidents  abnormal,  but 
in  essential  elements  it  was  fundamentally  nor- 
mal. 

"The  nucleus  of  the  wrecked  Christian  com- 
munity was  the  Protestant  missionary  body, 
and  the  personal  and  inner  side  of  their  lives 
is  the  heart  of  the  whole  story.  It  was  a  ter- 
rible ordeal  and  no  one  failed.  .  .  .  We  never 
emerged  from  the  shadow  of  death.  Dread 
and  darkness  seemed  never  to  depart.  Re- 
sponsibility and  anxiety  laid  their  heavy  hands 
on  us  day  and  night.  To  meet  these  we  had 
to  summon  courage  and  resolution,  power  and 


186  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

hope,  good  cheer  and  a  sense  of  humor.  The 
whole  armor  of  Christian  manhood  was  re- 
quired. The  Great  Companion  who  longed  to 
have  His  friends  near  at  the  time  of  the  agony 
of  Gethsemane,  who  looked  down  from  the 
Cross  on  their  faces,  was  with  us,  closer  and 
more  real  than  ever  before. 

"One  cannot  describe  the  inner  life.  It  can 
best  be  revealed  through  the  outward  activities. 
.  .  .  Sectarianism  could  not  survive  the  con- 
ditions, and  divisions  were  forgotten.  The 
conflict  in  which  we  were  engaged  called  for 
great  things  that  belonged  to  our  common 
Christian  heritage,  and  can  be  claimed  exclu- 
sively by  none.  The  need  of  repentance,  the 
power  of  prayer,  the  forgiving  spirit,  depend- 
ence on  God's  love,  and  the  hope  of  eternal  life 
beyond  the  reach  of  earth's  alarms  were  the 
topics  most  often  presented.  On  Sunday  the 
Communion  table  was  spread  for  all  who 
would  come,  and  hundreds  came. 

"In  all  that  is  said  of  service  and  patient 
endurance,  I  would  join  with  our  Mission  the 
three  Americans  at  Christ's  Home  for  Chil- 
dren, Miss  Ena  Bridges  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Herman  Pflaumer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  and  Miss 
Neesan  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury's 
Mission  and  the  members  of  the  French  Roman 


ABIDING  IN  THE  SHADOWS  187 

Catholic  Mission.  Monseigneur  Sonntag,  the 
Apostolic  Legate,  is  a  man  devoted  to  prayer. 
He  and  his  two  associates  were  unwearied  in 
their  labors.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  be  associated 
with  them.  All  three  had  the  fever  and  M. 
Rainhault  died  a  victim  to  his  devoted  care  of 
others  and  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  comfort. 
Seven  priests  of  the  French  Mission  and  three 
Protestant  preachers  were  killed,  some  of  these 
in  the  attitude  of  prayer.  Xor  were  they  the 
only  martyrs;  others  died  refusing  to  deny 
their  Lord.  Several  Nestorian  and  Russian 
Orthodox  priests  were  killed.  Time  would 
fail  to  tell  of  those  who  died  in  the  epidemics." 
By  spring  a  great  many  of  the  refugees  were 
scattering  from  our  yards,  though  hundreds 
still  remained  with  us  and  there  were  thou- 
sands camping  about  the  city,  and  dependent 
upon  us  for  bread.  There  was  the  same  need 
of  careful  watching;  there  were  frequent 
alarms  and  cries  for  protection.  We  were  sur- 
prised April  11  by  the  arrival  of  a  strong 
and  well-equipped  Turkish  force  of  fifteen  to 
twenty  thousand  men  under  Halil  Bey,  an 
uncle  of  Enver  Pasha.  They  were  a  division 
.from  Constantinople  and  were  evidently  in- 
structed to  treat  Americans  respectfully. 
They  advanced  into  S almas,  where  they  had 


188  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

some  heavy  fighting  with  the  Russians.  As 
they  were  always  prepared  to  leave  on  short 
notice,  there  was  constant  anxiety  lest  on  leav- 
ing they  and  the  Kurds  might  indulge  in  a  final 
massacre  of  Christians.  They  left  on  May  15 
and  on  May  24  the  Russians  came  in.  That 
was  a  great  day  though  we  hardly  dared  believe 
that  the  siege  was  ended.  Dr.  Shedd  went  out 
to  meet  the  Russians  in  a  carriage  furnished  by 
the  Governor  and  accompanied  by  representa- 
tives from  the  French  and  Russian  Missions. 
There  were  about  a  thousand  Cossacks  and 
some  Syrians  and  other  irregulars.  The  Rus- 
sian officers  took  great  pains  to  show  their 
appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  by  our 
M'ission. 

For  five  months  we  had  been  "captives"  in 
that  charnel  house ;  now  the  prison  gates  were 
open  and  we  were  free  and  safe.  In  a  few 
days  missionary  friends  from  Tabriz  came  with 
scores  of  Syrian  men  returning  to  their  broken 
families.  There  were  no  fireworks  nor  ring- 
ing of  bells.  One  doesn't  rejoice  with  a  great 
noise  on  such  occasions,  but  our  hearts  beat  to 
the  measure  of  the  Psalmist's  music,  "Yea, 
though  I  abide  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow, 
I  will  fear  no  evil;  for  Thou  art  with  me." 


CHAPTER  XI:  SALVAGE 

For  nearly  five  months  of  the  siege,  commu- 
nications with  the  outside  world  were  practi- 
cally cut  off.  Our  isolation  was  especially 
hard  for  Dr.  Shedd,  for  he  felt  so  keenly  the 
burden  of  responsibility  for  the  safety  of  the 
imprisoned  community.  A  very  few  letters 
got  through,  once  or  twice  by  help  of  the 
Persian  authorities  and  a  time  or  two  by  secret 
messengers.  This  was  risky,  but  our  condi- 
tion was  so  desperate  that  risks  had  to  be  taken 
for  the  sake  of  others  as  well  as  ourselves. 
Two  men  with  messages  passed  the  guards  by 
wading  a  mile  or  two  through  the  Lake. 

During  January,  while  Tabriz  was  occupied 
by  Turks  and  Kurds,  their  lines  of  communi- 
cation were  cut  and  our  friends  there  were 
themselves  in  danger.  The  wise  measures 
taken  by  our  Consul,  Mr.  Gordon  Paddock, 
averted  disaster.  The  missionaries  there 
moved  into  the  central  mission  compound, 
where  they  sheltered  several  hundred  S\a4ans 
and  Armenians.  All  the  adjoining  yards  were 
filled  with  Armenians,  who  wished  the  protec- 

189 


190  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

tion  of  the  Mission  and  the  Flag  in  case  of 
massacre.  In  addition  to  these,  the  mission- 
aries extended  protection  to  all  the  foreigners 
remaining  in  the  city;  the  French  nuns  with 
their  charges,  the  Belgian  custom-house  offi- 
cial, two  German  ladies,  Italians,  Austrians, 
Swiss,  Russians,  and  some  native  subjects  of 
Great  Britain. 

As  soon  as  they  were  able  to  get  messages 
through,  the  Consul  and  missionaries  sent  ap- 
peals by  telegraph,  cable  and  post.  The  ref- 
ugees from  Urumia  who  had  fled  to  Russia, 
leaving  their  families  behind,  because  that 
course  seemed  to  them  and  to  us  wisest  at  the 
time,  were  frantic  in  their  appeals.  Rev.  R. 
M.  Labaree  of  the  Tabriz  Station  spent  several 
weeks  in  S  almas  in  a  vain  effort  to  get  to 
Urumia.  During  the  whole  time  the  Consuls 
at  Tabriz  and  Tiflis,  Ambassador  Morganthau 
at  Constantinople,  and  our  State  Department 
at  Washington,  did  all  they  could  to  help  us, 
and  their  efforts  were  of  the  greatest  value. 

The  correspondence  of  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment at  Constantinople  with  our  State  De- 
partment at  Washington  is  characteristic  of  the 
Turk.  In  January  they  stated  that  they  had 
not  interfered  with  the  Governments  at  Tabriz 
or  Urumia,  that  the  conduct  of  the  soldiers  had 


SALVAGE  191 

been  good,  and  that  the  native  population  had 
been  in  no  way  molested.  As  late  as  March 
30,  "The  Turkish  War  Office  states  that  no 
act  of  violence  has  been  committed  in  that  re- 
gion." Halil  Bey  and  his  officers,  who  com- 
manded the  division  which  came  to  Urumia  in 
April,  were  superior  in  education  and  character 
to  any  who  preceded  them.  But  Halil  Bey 
delivered  to  the  missionaries  a  telegram  from 
Ambassador  Morganthau  asking  of  our  safety 
and  inquiring  if  we  needed  funds.  The  next 
day  an  answer  was  given  in  Turkish  for  trans- 
mission, mentioning  the  death  of  Mrs.  McDow- 
ell and  the  epidemics,  giving  the  names  of  a 
number  of  the  missionaries  who  were  ill  and 
stating  our  need  of  funds.  The  telegram  sent 
by  Halil  Bey  stated  that  "the  Americans  at 
Urumia  are  safe  and  well,  and  need  no  finan- 
cial assistance."  At  the  same  time  he  sent  this 
telegram,  he  and  his  staff  were  discussing  with 
the  missionaries  the  situation  at  Urumia  with 
reference  to  the  epidemics,  being  quite  fearful 
for  the  health  of  his  army. 

The  Turks  for  a  while  had  occupied  S  almas 
and  were  driven  out  by  the  Russians.  Before 
leaving,  they  ruthlessly  mutilated  and  de- 
stroyed the  French  Catholic  Mission  in  the 
town  of  Khosrawa.    Jevdad  Bey,  commander 


192  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

of  the  Turkish  forces  there,  had  made  the  Mis- 
sion his  headquarters  and  was  responsible  for 
the  havoc  wrought,  though  before  the  war  he 
had  been  a  student  in  the  French  schools  in 
Beirut.  It  was  he  who  at  the  time  of  their 
withdrawal  from  Salmas,  ordered  and  planned 
the  massacre  in  the  town  of  Haftdewan,  in 
which  eight  hundred  Christian  men  and  boys 
were  tortured,  and  hacked  to  pieces  with  a 
savage  cruelty  that  could  hardly  be  matched 
even  in  Turkey. 

A  paragraph  from  the  London  "Times," 
published  during  the  war,  is  a  fair  character- 
ization of  the  Turk:  "The  Turk  as  a  ruler  is  a 
merciless  oppressor ;  as  a  negotiator  a  cunning 
Byzantine;  as  a  soldier  a  tough  fighter;  as  a 
victor  a  remorseless  bully;  but  when  he  feels 
that  he  has  met  his  match,  he  is  a  pathetic  and 
distressed  gentleman,  and  so  contrives  that 
the  Turk  has  never  been  in  the  wrong ;  no  one 
has  ever  convicted  the  Turk  of  a  mean  or  cruel 
act." 

The  Turk  in  Urumia  was  always  consist- 
ently a  Turk.  The  treatment  by  Persians  of 
their  Christian  neighbors  who  had  been  Per- 
sian subjects  for  many  centuries  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  understand.  Said  Dr.  Shedd  on  this 
subject: 


SALVAGE  193 

"It  was  a  strangely  complex  and  contradic- 
tory situation.  ...  I  had  not  merely  formal, 
but  important  and  often  delicate,  dealings  with 
hundreds  of  people,  involving  a  large  variety 
of  questions  and  all  sorts  of  relationships,  of 
opposition  and  friendship,  distrust  and  confi- 
dence, in  which  men  risked  their  own  interests 
and  I  risked  mine  and  those  of  others.  The 
men  with  whom  I  had  to  deal  were  of  all  classes, 
Persians,  Kurds,  and  Turks,  officials,  mer- 
chants, military  officers,  religious  leaders  and 
peasants.  These  dealings  involved  constantly 
the  estimate  of  character,  for  they  were  largely 
of  a  kind  in  which  the  individual  and  personal 
factor  was  of  paramount  importance.  For 
many  of  these  men  I  have  a  real  affection  and 
genuine  esteem,  while  for  others  I  can  confess 
only  a  loathing.  ...  I  have  too  many  Mos- 
lem friends  and  my  obligations  to  them  are 
too  great  for  me  to  bring  thoughtless  accusa- 
tions against  them  or  against  what  they  reckon 
sacred.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  had  to  deal 
with  too  many  crimes  and  outrages  and  I  know 
too  well  the  wrongs  inflicted  on  the  Christians 
to  explain  away  or  palliate  the  evil.  .  .  . 

"The  underlying  causes  of  the  destruction 
were  complex,  but  they  may  be  indicated  with 
considerable    confidence.     Probably    the    two 


194  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

causesrthat  operated  most  widely  were  jealousy 
at  the  prosperity  of  the  Christians  and  resent- 
ment at  what  was  felt  to  be  their  self-assert- 
iveness.  The  roots  of  both  of  these  are  re- 
ligious. Christianity  under  any  handicaps  is 
economically  superior  to  Islam,  largely  because 
of  the  stability  it  gives  to  the  marriage  relation. 
Consequently,  it  has  been  universally  true  that 
'ihe  Christian  villages  have  been  conspicuous 
for  their  better  buildings,  larger  wealth, 
greater  comfort  and  profusion  of  household 
goods.  The  changes  of  the  past  two  genera- 
tions have  rapidly  increased  this  discrepancy, 
because  the  Christians  have  been  more  ready 
to  profit  by  closer  relations  with  the  West. 
Emigration  to  America  and  consequently  the 
flow  of  money  from  America  hastened  the 
change.  In  education  and  morality  the  Chris- 
tians have  been  raised  to  a  higher  level  by  mis- 
sionary work  and  this  has  reacted  on  social 
conditions. 

"Jealous  resentment  at  the  prosperity  of 
Christians,  has  been  sharpened  by  foolish  acts 
of  the  Christians  who  took  advantage  of  Rus- 
sian domination  to  assert  themselves  in  ways 
that  were  often  exasperating  and  unjust.  It 
was  felt  by  men  who  were  otherwise  well  dis- 
posed, for  it  is  inbred  and  inherited.     Islam 


SALVAGE  195 

tolerates  Christians,  if  they  will  keep  their 
place.     That  place  is  not  one  of  equality. 

"Back  of  the  Moslems  is  the  question  of 
Islam.  How  far  was  religion  an  element  in 
the  situation  and  what  light  do  we  find  on  the 
character  and  workings  of  Mohammedanism? 
•  .  .  Islam  is  responsible  for  the  permanent 
social  conditions  and  the  long  history  of  the 
past  that  led  up  to  these  massacres,  which  are 
the  latest  of  a  long  series,  and  may  God  grant 
that  they  may  in  truth  be  the  last.  Has  Islam 
ever  raised  an  effective  protest,  or  even  at- 
tempted to  protest  against  such  things?  In- 
dividuals have  done  what  they  could  through 
all  the  long,  dark  history.  The  moral  force  to 
which  we  appealed  with  a  degree  of  success 
was  not  religious  in  its  sanctions,  but  humani- 
tarian. There  were  maxims  of  religion  and 
certain  religious  impulses,  but  fundamental 
elements  in  Islam  were  against  us.  I  had  a 
long  interview  one  day  with  a  strict  and  ap- 
parently sincere  mullah  of  standing,  in  which 
he  stated  at  length  the  terms  under  which 
Christians  could  be  tolerated.  The  whole  atti- 
tude was  that  of  a  superior  giving,  as  he 
thought,  generous  terms  to  inferiors.  There 
was  no  generous  spirit;  the  terms  given  in- 
volved a  status  of  different  and  inferior  treat- 


196  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

ment  of  Christians.  He  might  have  made  the 
details  harsher  and  been  true  to  the  spirit  he 
showed  in  the  name  of  religion.  Every  Chris- 
tian girl  who  was  held  captive  was  held  by  the 
sanction  of  religion  expressed  in  a  written  con- 
tract of  marriage  with  a  Moslem.  The  fmida- 
mental  obstacles  to  our  attempts  to  help  were 
the  spirit  of  Islam  and  the  unscrupulous  de- 
signs of  the  Turks.  .  .  . 

"Finally,  there  is  the  question  of  jihad j  the 
sacred  war  of  Islam,  both  in  its  religious  and 
its  military  aspects.  .  .  .  One  may  fairly  say 
that  by  their  own  act  of  declaring  jihad  and 
unfurling  the  gi^een  flag  of  Islam,  the  Moslems 
have  taken  away  every  reason  that  might  be 
urged  to  shift  the  responsibility  for  the  out- 
rages from  their  religion.  .  .  .  At  most,  jihad 
can  produce  only  a  mob.  We  know  now  that 
the  tragedy  we  were  witnessing  was  only  a  part 
of  a  vaster  tragedy,  the  greatest  crime  of  all 
the  crimes  of  the  war,  the  Armenian  outrages 
perpetrated  by  the  Turkish  Government." 

Even  after  the  Russians  were  again  in  con- 
trol of  affairs  in  Urumia,  there  was  no  repent- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  Persians.  They  were 
fearful  lest  they  receive  the  punishment  due 
their  crimes,  but  showed  no  willingness  to  make 
amends  or  to  return  the  property  of  the  Chris- 


SALVAGE  197 

tians.  Many  Moslems  were  arrested  by  the 
Russians,  but  no  one  was  punished.  The  Rus- 
sians were  not  secure  enough  in  their  position 
to  antagonize  the  Persians. 

As  the  Cliristians  returned  to  their  empty 
and  ruined  homes,  efforts  were  made  to  have 
the  Persians  return  to  them  some  of  their  stolen 
cattle,  but  nothing  could  be  accomplished.  The 
people  carried  disease  with  them  to  the  vil- 
lages, they  were  without  food  and  for  a  while 
we  continued  to  feed  them.  The  Consul  tried 
to  shift  this  burden  to  the  village  owners,  who 
were  ready  to  make  promises  but  seldom  ful- 
filled them.  In  the  city  the  suffering  was  not 
ended.  The  sick  were  lying  about  our  prem- 
ises or  anywhere  they  could  find  the  shelter  of 
a  roof  or  the  shade  of  trees.  The  best  we 
could  do  was  to  give  them  a  little  milk  or  eggs 
and  to  a  very  few  limited  medical  attention. 
"We  are  a  wrecked  vessel  here,"  wrote  Dr. 
Shedd,  "and  it  is  an  appalHng  task  to  help  the 
survivors.  I  am  almost  desperate,  and  if  one 
had  not  faith  in  God,  there  would  be  no  hope 
at  all.  Just  now  we  are  trying  to  get  village 
owners  to  exert  themselves,  and  it  is  about  as 
hopeless  as  *Bre'r  Rabbit's'  fight  with  the  Tar 
Baby.  Still  we  must  keep  on,  but  it  is  hard, 
piteous  work.    Gk)d  has  worked  a  great  salva- 


198  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

tion.  Every  one  believes  that  but  for  our 
presence  here,  there  would  have  been  terrible 
loss  of  life. 

"Perhaps  it  would  not  be  prudent  to  tell 
what  one  is  forced  to  think  of  the  Turkish  oc- 
cupation here.  For  the  most  part,  they  played 
the  part  of  bankrupt  savages,  armed  with  the 
instruments  of  this  age,  and  using  in  a  des- 
perate venture  all  the  forces  they  could  get 
hold  of,  savagery,  religious  hatred,  racial  feel- 
ing. 

"Our  part  has  been  to  feed  and  protect  these 
thousands,  protecting  all  and  feeding  many. 
We  have  had  to  use  all  the  means  we  could, 
cautiously,  prudently,  and  yet  fearlessly.  My 
constant  effort  has  been  to  keep  the  friendship 
of  the  Persians  and  to  rely  on  them  rather  than 
any  one  else;  as  I  have  told  people,  we  must 
depend  on  those  who  in  no  contingency  will  run 
away.  We  have  succeeded,  I  think,  in  most 
part,  in  doing  all  that  could  be  done  and  have 
undoubtedly  saved  many  lives.  The  means 
have  been  very  inadequate  and  the  reliance  on 
man  has  been  very  imcertain,  but  in  it  all  we 
have  felt  as  never  before  God's  presence  and 
help. 

"A  good  many  things  had  to  be  settled  on 
short  notice,  and  many  a  time  I  put  up  a  silent 


SALVAGE  1921 

prayer  to  Him  who  is  able  to  keep  us  from 
falling." 

There  was  hardly  a  day  when  Dr.  Shedd 
was  not  forced  to  express  an  opinion  or  take 
some  step  in  relation  to  matters  seriously  in- 
volving the  interests  of  others  and  sometimes 
their  lives. 

In  June  he  rejoiced  in  the  arrival  of  the 
Russian  Consul,  M.  Basil  Nikitine,  a  man  of 
ability,  sincere  sympathy,  and  fine  character. 
Together  they  visited  the  villages  in  an  effort 
to  settle  the  people  in  the  wreckage  of  their 
homes  and  to  soften  the  hostility  of  their  Mos- 
lem neighbors  toward  them.  In  the  Moslem 
villages,  they  found  the  villagers  busy  in  the 
fields,  with  herds  of  cattle  larger  than  usual  in 
the  meadows,  the  houses  in  good  repair  because 
of  the  timbers,  doors  and  windows  stolen  from 
the  Christians.  In  one  village  a  woman  who 
was  a  member  of  one  of  our  congregations  told 
the  story  of  how  six  months  before,  she  had 
fled  to  this  village  for  refuge,  and  how  her 
son  was  shot  in  cold  blood  before  her  eyes,  and 
she  pointed  out  the  murderer  to  the  Consul. 
She  also  told  of  the  treatment  received  by  her- 
self and  other  women  at  the  place  where  her 
son  lay  dead.  There  was  little  sign  of  repent- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  Moslems  as  the  Consul 


200  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

gave  them  warning  of  the  punishment  sure  to 
follow  future  atrocities. 

The  Christian  villages  were  in  ruins,  demol- 
ished walls,  roofless  houses,  charred  timbers, 
showing  malicious  destruction.  In  such  places 
the  Christians  were  living  in  fear  and  hunger 
and  sickness,  unarmed  in  the  midst  of  those 
who  a  few  months  before  had  murdered,  robbed 
and  raped,  while  only  a  few  miles  away  in  the 
hills  were  the  Kurds,  waiting  for  the  changing 
fortunes  of  war  to  give  them  another  oppor- 
tunity. 

Proclamation  was  made  by  the  Russian  Con- 
sul that  all  stolen  girls  must  be  returned  and 
our  Girls'  School  became  the  receiving  station 
for  them.  Many  were  expectant  mothers  and 
it  was  very  difficult  to  know  what  to  do  with 
them.  Forty  or  fifty  were  brought  to  us  and 
in  most  cases  they  were  welcomed  by  their 
friends,  who  were  ready  to  share  with  them 
such  as  they  had.  There  were  others  who  did 
not  come  to  us,  but  went  directly  to  their  fam- 
ilies. We  had  two  or  three  weddings  in  the 
school  parlor  when  the  fiances  claimed  the  girls 
as  soon  as  they  were  free. 

Fighting  between  Turks  and  Russians  con- 
tinued and  there  was  much  uncertainty  all  dur- 
ing June  and  July,  and  early  in  August  we 


SALVAGE  201 

were  notified  that  the  Russians  were  about  to 
evacuate  again.  The  whole  Christian  popula- 
tion started  en  masse  towards  Russia  and  most 
of  the  missionaries  went  with  them  as  far  as 
Tabriz.  The  Turkish  advance  was  turned 
back  and  the  flight  of  the  people  halted.  But 
epidemics  had  broken  out  and  many  died.  The 
danger  passed  and  in  a  few  weeks  most  of  the 
Christians  were  back  again  in  Urumia.  In 
the  fall  of  1915  the  Russians  strengthened  their 
position  in  Persia  and  Urumia  was  again 
within  their  lines. 


CHAPTER  XII:  THE  INTERLUDE 

In  September,  1915,  Dr.  Shedd  with  his  two 
children  left  Persia  for  a  visit  to  America. 
Coming  out  of  an  atmosphere  rife  with  the 
horrors  of  war,  he  felt  the  need  of  mental  ad- 
justment to  conditions  in  America.  "I  am 
trying  to  clear  up  my  ideas  on  the  war,"  he 
said.  "I  think  that  I  hate  war  as  much  as 
any  one,  but  I  don't  seem  to  set  peace  as  the 
greatest  good  in  the  way  that  many  people  do. 
With  the  American  people,  I'm  a  great  deal 
more  afraid  that  they  won't  have  the  zeal  they 
should  have  than  that  they  will  learn  to  love 
war.  There  is  a  kind  of  peace  that  is  a  nega- 
tive kind  of  thing,  like  a  good  deal  of  the 
prevailing  complacency  of  conscience. 

"This  frame  of  mind  that  is  always  congratu- 
lating our  country  on  being  out  of  the  war  does 
not  appeal  to  me;  not  that  I  do  not  appreciate 
the  value  of  being  at  peace.  What  is  coming 
I  do  not  know.  I  hope  our  country  will  keep 
neutral,  but  I  hope  she  won't  do  it  because 
we  are  afraid  of  trouble  and  responsibility." 

He  spent  the  year  at  home  in  speaking,  writ- 

202 


THE  INTERLUDE  203 

ing  and  traveling  to  create  interest  in  the  Per- 
sian situation.  He  wrote  a  history,  which  was 
not  completed,  of  the  first  year  of  the  war  in 
Persia.  At  the  request  of  the  Mission  Board 
he  prepared  the  report  of  the  Missions  of  that 
year.  With  the  futui^e  of  the  American  School 
in  mind,  he  visited  Hampton  Institute  and  was 
much  impressed  with  what  he  saw  there  in  ref- 
erence to  the  possibility  of  applying  the  same 
principles  of  education  to  our  work  in  Urumia. 
The  result  was  an  interesting  and  thoughtful 
paper  on  Educational  Ideals  and  Methods  for 
the  American  School  for  Boys. 

In  August,  1916,  he  turned  his  face  toward 
Persia,  understanding  pretty  well  what  lay 
before  him.  From  the  steamer  he  wrote  to 
friends : 

"It  was  not  easy  to  leave  the  children,  four 
fine  girls,  but  I  have  a  feeling  that  I  am  going 
from  a  country  that  I  love  and  understand 
partially  to  a  far  less  attractive  one  that  I  know 
better.  ...  I  feel  as  if  I  were  going  home  in 
the  sense  that  I  am  going  where  I  shall  be  at 
home  in  the  work  and  know  what  I  am  doing. 
America  is  to  me  a  place  that  I  don't  altogether 
understand,  though  I  know  well  enough  that 
it  is  the  finest  place  in  the  world.  I  hope  as 
I  start  in  again  that  I  won't  lose  hold  on  the 


204.  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

best  things  I  learned  in  the  experiences  of  the 
past,  and  I  don't  think  I  shall.  .  .  . 

"At  the  same  time,  when  the  world  is  full  of 
sacrifice  and  courage,  I  don't  like  to  have  my 
going  back  called  *brave/  Of  course,  it  isn't 
easy  to  leave  the  girls,  but  there  is  no  question 
as  to  what  I  ought  to  do.  More  than  that,  it 
is  no  time  to  make  much  of  our  trials  when 
people  in  Europe  are  in  the  throes  of  suffer- 
ing. .  .  . 

"I  have  been  wondering  lately  as  to  what 
religion  is  and  what  its  real  purpose  is.  I  have 
tried  to  think  how  it  would  do  to  define  it  as 
the  means  or  way  of  transmitting  divine  energy 
into  human  life.  That  is  nearer  truth,  any- 
how, than  mere  knowledge,  feeling,  or  life-in- 
surance. It  might  have  pretty  good  Bible 
justification,  too.  I  have  been  through  expe- 
riences the  past  two  years  that  make  me 
more  certain  than  ever  of  the  spiritual  realities, 
and,  I  think,  less  anxious  about  theology.  I 
hope  I  won't  cease  to  think,  even  about  the  in- 
scrutable things,  but  I  hope  that  I  can  keep  on 
working  at  the  hard  and  wrong  things  in  life 
and  get  the  power  of  Christ  at  work  in  life. 
I  have  not  joined  the  exhorters  or  those  who 
j/         think  that  Christianity  is  only  'social  service.* 


THE  INTERLUDE  205 

It  is  a  good  stiff  fight  all  along  the  line,  and 
I  hope  I  may  keep  it  up  until  I  drop.  .  .  . 

"What  I  am  coming  to  believe  in,  is  the  ap- 
plication of  Christianity  to  life.  As  I  under- 
stand it,  religion  is  the  getting  of  power  from 
God,  and  the  bringing  of  God  into  human  life. 
This  includes,  of  course,  the  life  of  thought, 
but  does  not  end  there.  ...  So  in  this  war 
crisis,  the  only  way  to  peace  is  by  applying 
to  international  matters  Christianity.  Most 
Americans  feel  that  in  matters  outside  Amer- 
ica, and  probably  many  within  it,  their  con- 
sciences have  no  occasion  to  react.  The  ques- 
tion IS  whether  she  will  be  a  Christian  nation 
in  world  matters,  i.e.,  governed  by  Christian 
motives.  I  am  not  a  pacifist  because  peace 
can  be  secured  only  by  introducing  a  new  con- 
science." 

He  arrived  in  Urmnia  in  the  fall  of  1916 
and  resumed  his  place  in  the  American  School. 
In  addition,  theological  teaching,  Legal  Board, 
evangelistic  work  for  city  Moslems,  and  the 
chairmanship  of  the  Urumia  Relief  Commit- 
tee made  that  a  busy  winter. 

During  the  next  two  years,  the  relief  work 
occupied  a  large  place  in  the  work  of  Urumia 
Station.     The    chief    beneficiaries    were    the 


206  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

mountain  tribes  who  had  been  driven  out  of 
Turkey  in  1915.  These  tribes  when  driven 
from  their  homes  by  Turks  and  Kurds  forti- 
fied themselves  in  inaccessible  mountain  fast- 
nesses where  they  were  besieged.  When  food 
and  ammunition  were  gone,  they  fled  down 
the  narrow  valleys  toward  Persia,  expecting 
protection  from  the  Russians.  Pursued  by 
their  enemies,  many  thousand,  mostly  women 
and  children,  were  killed,  or  left  to  die  along 
the  mountain  trails.  Thirty  to  thirty-five 
thousand  crossed  the  border  into  the  plain  of 
S almas  absolutely  destitute.  Disease  followed 
hard  after  them,  and  hungry,  almost  unclothed, 
and  imsheltered  as  they  were,  the  death  toll  was 
high.  Dr.  E.  W.  McDowell,  who  for  many 
years  had  worked  among  them  in  their  moun- 
tain villages,  with  other  American  missionaries 
and  relief  funds,  reached  S  almas  a  few  days 
after  the  arrival  of  the  refugees.  The  Rus- 
sians also  sent  financial  aid  and  supported  hos- 
pitals for  them.  Several  thousand  were  scat- 
tered in  the  villages  of  Khoi  to  the  north, 
while  others  found  their  way  to  Urumia  on  the 
south. 

The  American  Relief  Committee  was 
largely  responsible  for  the  continued  existence 
of  these  mountaineers  and  the  demands  made 


THE  INTERLUDE  207 

upon  them  were  not  only  for  food,  clothing  and 
shelter,  but  also  for  their  protection  and  con- 
trol. They  continued  to  live  more  or  less  in 
tribes  under  their  maliks,  or  chiefs.  Mar  Shi- 
mon, their  civil  and  religious  head,  settled  in 
Salmas. 

Being  exiles  and  with  no  employment,  they 
often  made  themselves  a  nuisance  and  irritated 
their'Persian.neighbors  by  petty  thieving,  espe- 
cially in  the  fruit  season.  In  1917,  at  the  time 
of  ripe  grapes,  all  over  the  plain  of  Urumia  the 
vineyards  spread  out  in  unending  waves  of 
green  vines  laden  with  dehcious  grapes,  a  score 
or  more  varieties.  Scattered  about  in  the  vil- 
lages were  the  mountaineers  with  no  legitimate 
share  in  all  this  lusciousness.  It  was  all  very 
simple  to  these  untaught  exiles  from  the  crags 
and  peaks  of  Kurdistan  and  one  night  a  party 
of  them  visited  the  vineyard  of  a  Syrian  neigh- 
bor, bringing  their  large  willow  baskets  which 
they  carry  on  their  backs  fastened  with  ropes 
around  the  waist  and  shoulders.  The  owner 
of  the  vineyard,  hearing  a  noise,  fired  his  rifle 
to  frighten  away  the  intruders,  who,  in  their 
hasty  exit,  left  baskets  and  ropes.  These  were 
gathered  up  and  taken  to  the  house.  Bright 
and  early  the  next  morning,  the  offenders  ap- 
peared and  politely  requested  that  ropes  and 


208  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

baskets  be  returned,  as  they  were  their  chief 
means  of  livelihood.  They  got  them — and 
grapes,  too! 

The  momitaineers  were  not  the  only  proteges 
of  American  generosity.  Our  yards  and  often 
our  houses  were  filled  from  day  to  day  with  the 
most  grotesque  and  varied  specimens  of  hu- 
manity. Kurds  driven  from  their  villages  by 
famine  and  war  came  to  Urumia  to  appeal  to 
the  Americans.  There  were  Kurds  from  the 
south  in  full  bloomers,  wi^apped  with  a  girdle 
from  thigh  to  armpit  and  armed  with  hanjar 
or  dagger,  and  the  warrior  who  proudly  boasted 
rifle  and  cartridges.  The  Persian  khan  was 
there  to  beg  a  loan  in  time  of  distress.  There 
were  hundreds  of  poor,  miserable  women  with 
their  starving  babies  and  naked  children  cling- 
ing to  them.  There  were  Mohammedan  ladies, 
each  with  a  special  petition,  sometimes  pre- 
sented through  one  of  the  missionary  ladies, 
but  oftener  by  direct  appointment  with  Dr. 
Shedd. 

"I  feel  very  tired  to-night,"  he  wrote  in  Jan- 
uary, "and  think  it  is  not  from  work  but  from 
the  crowd  of  desperately  needy  Kurds  and 
other  Moslems  who  crowd  my  big  w^aiting  room 
in  the  city.  I  don't  dare  to  help  them,  except 
in  a  limited  number  of  selected  cases,  because 


THE  INTERLUDE  209 

we  simply  cannot  embark  on  so  big  a  job.  The 
other  day  I  had  a  deputation  from  a  village 
forty  miles  away.  It  is  hard  to  refuse  to  help 
them  as  I  do  many  times  a  day,  and  yet,  it 
seems  to  me,  it  would  be  still  worse  to  refuse 
to  see  them,  even  if  it  would  be  easier." 

In  March,  1917,  the  report  of  the  taking  of 
Bagdad  by  the  British  was  good  news  to  us, 
and  for  many  months  we  anticipated  the  taking 
of  Mosul  on  the  Tigris.  This  would  have 
meant  comparative  security  to  Urumia  and 
would  have  made  it  possible  for  the  moun- 
taineers to  return  to  their  homes. 

That  spring  wheat  was  selling  at  six  dollars 
a  bushel,  and  the  Relief  Committee  had  to  fur- 
nish seed  in  order  to  have  fields  planted.  The 
Christians  had  been  so  completely  robbed  that 
tools  for  preparing  the  ground  and,  later, 
sickles  for  harvesting,  had  to  be  provided  for 
them.  Loans  were  made  for  working  the  vine- 
yards and  for  planting,  but  nearly  all  these 
loans  were  repaid.  A  large  number  of  orphans 
were  still  being  fed. 

The  Russians  occupied  Urumia  and  con- 
trolled the  political  situation.  The  soldiers 
were  giving  trouble  and  the  feeling  between 
Moslems  and  Christians  was  bad.  Early  in 
July  the  bazaars,  that  is,  the  business  section 


210  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

of  the  city,  were  looted  and  burned  by  Russian 
soldiers.  We  all  had  to  'pay  the  piper,"  for 
prices  soared  and  many  things  could  not  be 
had.  Those  merchants  who  had  goods  were 
afraid  to  let  it  be  known  and  very  little  was 
displayed  in  any  of  the  shops. 

Dr.  Shedd  and  I  had  known  each  other  four- 
teen years  and  had  lived  as  missionary  associ- 
ates in  the  same  station.  Our  ideals  and  life 
purpose  were  identical,  our  hearts  were  in  the 
same  cause.  In  July,  1917,  we  were  married 
and  when  we  set  up  our  home  it  was  dedicated 
to  the  Master  whom  we  both  served. 

We  went  to  Seir  for  a  vacation.  Our  Mis- 
sion house  there  had  been  completely  wrecked, 
but  the  English  Mission  house  was  standing, 
though  the  upper  story  and  all  doors  and  win- 
dows were  gone.  We  camped  in  the  ruins  and 
found  the  shelter  of  the  thick  walls  much  cooler 
than  a  tent  would  have  been. 

Alas,  troubles  began  the  very  day  we  left 
the  city.  That  was  the  night  the  bazaars  were 
burned,  followed  by  the  looting  of  a  number 
of  Kurdish  and  Persian  villages.  So  all  the 
time  we  were  at  Seir,  Dr.  Shedd  was  busy  get- 
ting back  stolen  sheep  and  other  plunder  for 
the  owners  and  settling  quarrels.     He  sue- 


THE  INTERLUDE  211 

ceeded  in  recovering  practically  everything 
that  had  been  stolen. 

The  Seir  villagers  claimed  us  as  belonging 
to  the  village,  Dr.  Shedd  having  been  born 
there,  and  out  of  their  deep  poverty,  they 
brought  us  eggs,  milk,  and  kadda  or  tea  cake. 
Every  afternoon,  Persian  fashion,  we  spread  a 
carpet  on  the  grass,  brought  the  samovar  and 
glasses,  and  served  tea  to  all  who  came.  A 
frequent  guest  was  a  gentle  old  Nestorian 
priest,  wearing  a  cone-shaped  felt  hat  of  home 
manufacture,  and  his  hair  in  a  pig-tail  down 
his  back.  According  to  mountain  custom,  a 
newly  married  woman  should  keep  her  mouth 
covered  and  remain  silent  in  the  presence  of 
the  superior  sex,  taking  her  food  in  the  corner 
after  they  are  served.  Evidently  some  things 
puzzled  the  old  priest.  One  day  I  was  re- 
torting in  a  lively  way  to  my  husband's  re- 
marks. The  visitor  couldn't  understand  the 
language,  but  he  was  watching  the  proceedings 
and  plainly  thought  that  I  needed  reproof. 
Then  when  the  "Sahib"  seemed  to  be  holding 
the  floor  for  a  few  minutes,  he  asked  approv- 
ingly, "Are  you  preaching  to  her?" 

In  September  we  established  our  home  in 
the  city.    Very  soon  political  troubles  began, 


212  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

with  the  spread  of  Bolshevism  in  the  Rus- 
sian army,  and  our  home  became  the  center 
of  the  seething,  tumultuous  life  of  the  com- 
munity. It  was  a  very  short  year  in  spite  of 
the  dreadful  things  that  happened,  and  even 
unrelenting  time  cannot  rob  me  of  those 
months  of  joyous  companionship  with  one  of 
extraordinary  gifts  of  heart  and  mind,  the 
sharing  in  all  his  thoughts  and  labors  at  a  time 
when  his  life  had  reached  its  climax  in  con- 
secration and  service.  Many  years  were 
crowded  into  one,  though  there  were  only  little 
snatches  we  could  call  our  own.  Afterwards 
when  the  people  brought  me  questions  and 
problems  that  were  difficult  to  solve,  I  found 
myself  always  trying  to  decide  what  his  answer 
or  solution  would  have  been  and  basing  my 
decision  on  that.  From  him  I  learned  a  more 
simple  faith  in  God,  to  trust  people  more,  to 
be  less  "careful  and  troubled  about  many 
things."  The  gracious  outpouring  of  self  in 
friendliness,  the  humility  and  magnanimity 
that  counts  nothing  as  done  unto  one's  self 
remain  an  inspiration. 

That  autumn  in  anticipation  of  fighting  on 
the  Urumia  front,  a  French  military  hospital 
came  to  Urumia.  With  war  all  about  us,  Rus- 
sia in  revolution,  political  intrigues  and  threat- 


THE  INTERLUDE  213 

ened  famine  in  our  midst,  life  was  strenuous. 
One  of  the  schemes  of  the  Persian  "Democrats" 
was  to  detach  the  province  of  Azerbaijan  and 
join  it  to  an  independent  Moslem  Caucasus. 
In  December  we  received  word  of  the  treaty 
between  the  Caucasus  Provisional  Government 
and  Turkey. 

"The  reaction  of  the  Russian  revolution  is 
hard  to  estimate,"  said  Dr.  Shedd.  "It  has 
given  Persia  a  chance,  but  what  will  she  do 
with  it?  There  will  be  'Democrats'  of  several 
varieties,  aspirations  after  liberty  and  progress, 
and  there  will  be  blind  reactions  and  fanatical 
conservatives.  Russian  agitators  will  be  at 
work. 

"It  is  hard  to  say  just  what  is  being  done 
by  relief  work.  Thousands  of  lives  have  been 
saved,  but  that  is  only  part  of  it.  It  is  the 
work  that  helps  to  reconcile  discordant  ele- 
ments here,  and  we  are  making  it  a  very  real 
force  for  good  order  and  so  good  will.  Of 
course,  it  takes  time,  and  strength,  but  what 
are  time  and  strength  for  but  to  use  them  for 
others?  I  pray  that  America  may  strike  with 
all  her  force  to  end  this  war  and  that  her  heart 
may  be  made  pure  to  meet  the  momentous 
issue  of  it  and  to  see  her  way  clearly.  I  am 
glad  we  are  in  the  war  and  yet  I  tremble,  not 


214j  the  measure  OF  A  MAN 

for  the  loss  but  for  the  responsibihties  that  it 
seems  to  bring  on  us.  You  know  that  I  am 
not  a  pacifist,  and  I  am  inclined  to  beheve  that 
our  country  will  exert  the  greatest  influence 
for  peace  and  bring  it  more  quickly  and  make 
it  more  stable  by  putting  her  strength  and  con- 
science into  righteous  war  than  in  any  other 
way." 

In  October  Dr.  Shedd  was  asked  by  the 
Governor  to  be  a  member  of  the  Government 
Food  Commission.  He  found  the  Commission 
with  plenty  of  stationery  and  talk. 

"I  am  skeptical  of  anything  efficient  coming 
out  of  a  Persian  Government  proposition,  but 
am  willing  to  go  and  try  to  do  my  part,"  said 
he.  "We  will  keep  in  touch  with  them  and 
perhaps  will  be  able  to  accomplish  something. 
The  Persians  don't  lack  abihty  to  see  what 
should  be  done,  but  they  do  lack  the  resolution 
to  put  it  through  at  the  expense  of  their  per- 
sonal advantage  or  personal  work." 

The  times  were  making  unusual  demands 
upon  him  which  required  careful  thought. 

*'It  seems  clear,"  he  said,  "that  the  immedi- 
ate purpose  of  most  of  us,  or,  at  least,  some 
of  us,  must  be  service  to  the  community  in 
a  time  of  stress  and  need,  both  in  relief 
work  and  in  efforts  to  preserve  some  sort  of 


THE  INTERLUDE  215 

order  here.  Certainly  the  way  to  do  this 
with  any  degree  of  efficiency  is  to  make  it  the 
primary  purpose  in  one's  efforts  and  to  allow 
one's  hfe  to  be  controlled  by  this  purpose.  It 
seems  to  me  very  clear  that  this  is  the  leading 
of  Providence  and  that  in  plans  for  work  and 
life  I  should  leave  a  margin,  that  is,  a  conscious, 
voluntary  margin,  not  merely  an  allowance 
for  the  inevitable,  for  such  leading.  The  de- 
velopment of  our  work  here  during  the  last 
three  years  is  certainly  such  as  could  in  no  pos- 
sibility have  been  forecast,  and  I  should  hesi- 
tate very  much  to  forecast  the  next  three  years. 
We  must  accept  it  as  a  fact,  and  even  as  a  de- 
sirable and  definite  purpose,  that  our  work 
and  ourselves  become  an  integral  part  of  the 
general  community  life  and  as  such  that  we 
should  accept  and  desire  to  share  in  commu- 
nity burdens  and  hfe.  .  .  . 

"I  have  an  ambition  to  do  my  part  to  keep 
the  people  of  this  corner  of  the  world  from  the 
suffering  that  threatens  them  from  their  na- 
tional and  racial  rivalries  and  hatreds.  How 
much  I  can  do  I  don't  know,  but  it  surely  is 
something  a  missionary  has  a  right  and  duty 
to  hold  before  himself  as  an  aim.  What  a 
divided  and  disjointed  world  this  is  out  of, 
Christ.     This  war  is  only  a  projection  on  a 


216  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

tremendous  scale  of  what  is  chronic  in  this  part 
of  the  world,  except  that  after  all,  in  the  war, 
one  can  see  the  great  principles  at  stake,  while 
in  the  plunderings  and  murders  here,  one  can 
see  but  the  sputterings  and  flamings  of  old 
hatreds.  Certain  it  is  that  no  international 
treaty  can  give,  though  it  may  help,  peace 
here.  May  we  have  our  little  part  in  this  great 
purpose  of  our  Lord." 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIAN  MIS- 
SION IN  URUMIA  IN  1918 

Rev.Wm.  A.  Shedd, 

Mrs.  Mary  Lewis  Shedd, 

Rev.  E.  T.  Allen, 

Mrs.  May  Wallace  Allen, 

Mrs.  Bertha  McConaughy  Cochran   (Mrs. 

J.  P.), 

Miss  Edith  D.  Lamme, 
H.  P.  Packard,  M.D., 
Mrs.  Frances  Bayley  Packard, 
Miss  Lenore  R.  Schoebel, 
Wilder  P.  EUis,  M.D., 
Mrs.  Jessie  Lee  ElHs, 
Miss  Mary  Burgess, 
Edward  M.  Dodd,  M.D., 


THE  INTERLUDE  217 

Mr.  E.  C.  M.  Richards  (Near  East  Relief 
worker), 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Coan  Richards  (Near  East 
Relief  worker) . 

In  Charge  of  Christ's  Home  for  Children: 
Rev.  Herman  Pf  laumer, 
Mrs.  Helen  Pflaumer, 
Miss  Ena  Bridges. 


CHAPTER  XIII:  HOW  BEST  TO 
SERVE 

In  the  autumn  of  1917  heavy  war-clouds 
again  gathered  over  Urumia.  The  dissolution 
of  Russia,  of  which  northwest  Persia  had  prac- 
tically become  a  part,  spelled  destruction  and 
anarchy.  With  the  spread  of  Bolshevism, 
army  discipline  fast  disappeared.  When  the 
restraint  which  the  military  had  exercised  was 
gone,  every  one  who  had  an  old  score  to  settle 

r  seized  his  opportunity.  The  soldiers  them- 
selves were  responsible  for  much  of  the  dis- 
order that  ensued  and  they  left  many  debts  of 
hatred  and  bitterness  in  the  hearts  of  the  Mos- 
lems which  were  afterwards  exacted  from  the 

f  native  Christians.  During  the  fall  and  early 
winter  the  bulk  of  the  army  left  in  great  con- 
fusion. Large  army  stores  had  been  collected 
in  the  Urumia  region  and  the  least  responsible 
of  the  Russians  who  stayed  behind  busied  them- 
sdlves  destroying  and  selling  these  supplies. 
Rifles  and  amimunition  were  disposed  of  to  foes 
as  well  as  friends,  and  many  Kurds  and  Per- 
sians secured  them  at  nominal  prices.     In  the 

218 


HOW  BEST  TO  SERVE  219 

same  way,  Syrians  and  Armenians  obtained 
small  quantities  for  their  little  army  of  defense. 

As  soon  as  the  Russian  army  went  to  pieces, 
the  Persian  Democrats  began  active  propa- 
ganda for  arming  Moslems  again  Christians; 
as  one  orator  said,  "He  that  hath  no  rifle,  sell 
his  wife  and  get  one."  Ijlal-ul-Mulk,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Urumia,  was  as  weak  and  irresponsi- 
ble as  the  government  he  represented,  and  was 
so  tied  up  with  the  Democrats,  who  were  the 
real  power,  that  he  could  not  act  with  any  in- 
dependence. 

The  Russian  officers  who  were  not  in  sym- 
pathy with  Bolshevism  remained  in  Urumia 
and  tried  to  get  under  control  and  organization 
the  remnants  of  the  former  battalions  and  the 
unorganized  men  with  rifles.  These,  as  free 
lances,  were  a  menace  to  the  community,  but 
essential  for  the  protection  of  their  people  from 
attacks  by  Persians  in  whose  midst  they  were 
living,  and  from  Turks  and  Kurds,  who  were 
only  waiting  for  the  last  of  the  Russian  army 
to  leave  in  order  to  swoop  down  from  the  hills 
like  wolves  on  the  fold. 

With  robbery  and  murder  of  daily  occur- 
rence, the  life  of  the  whole  community  in  jeop- 
ardy, and  no  help  from  the  Persian  Govern- 
ment, the  various  elements  that  stood  for  law 


220  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  ^E\N 

and  order  combined,  and  in  consultation  with 
the  Governor  tried  to  work  out  plans  for  pro- 
tecting Hfe  and  property. 

There  were  the  American  missionaries,  rep- 
resented by  Dr.  Shedd,  M.  Basil  Xikitine, 
Russian  Vice-consul,  Monseigneur  Sonntag  of 
the  French  Catholic  Mission,  Dr.  Caujole, 
Chief  of  Staff  of  the  French  Military  Hos- 
pital, and  the  leaders  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity. 

The  first  necessity"  was  a  gendarmerie  for 
police  purposes  for  city  and  villages,  composed 
of  both  Christians  and  Moslems.  The  Gov- 
ernor favored  this  up  to  the  point  of  execu- 
tion, then  backed  down  and  refused  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  it,  nor  was  any  other  pro- 
vision made  to  control  the  ver\'  serious  situa- 
tion. Dr.  Shedd  was  frequently  asked  by  the 
Governor  to  help  him  in  various  ways  to  solve 
the  difficulties  of  his  position.  \Mien  the  trans- 
Baikal  Cossacks  were  leaving,  they  wanted  to 
change  Persian  krans  for  Russian  rubles.  The 
Persians  overcharged  them  and  the  Cossacks 
threatened  to  get  rubles  for  themselves.  The 
Governor  sent  for  Dr.  Shedd,  who  by  securing 
a  fair  rate  of  exchange  and  taking  the  respon- 
sibility' for  the  transactions,  settled  the  matter 
without  bloodshed. 


HOW  BEST  TO  SERVE  221 

During  the  months  that  followed,  the 
American  [Mission  was  undoubtedly  the  great- 
est power  for  good  and  the  best  friend  of  all 
the  races  of  that  region.  In  the  midst  of  m- 
describable  chaos,  Dr.  Shedd,  the  clear,  quick 
thinker,  fearless  and  decisive  in  action,  was  the 
leader.  For  a  long  time  he  had  been  practi- 
cally performing  the  duties  of  vice-consul,  and 
with  the  hope  that  official  status  might 
strengthen  his  position,  ]Mr.  Paddock,  Amer- 
ican Consul  at  Tabriz,  m^ged  his  appointment. 
Previously,  when  the  question  of  his  accepting 
such  an  appointment  had  been  raised,  he  had 
declined,  feeling  that  it  might  limit  his  mis- 
sionary influence.  Now  the  situation  was  so 
critical  that  every  possible  means  must  be  em- 
ployed and  every  influence  used  to  save  the 
community  from  destruction.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Honorary  Vice -Consul  for  our  Gov- 
ernment, and  on  New  Year's  Day,  1918,  the 
American  flag  was  officially  placed  over  the 
gate  of  our  City  Compound,  and  our  home 
became  known  as  the  American  Consul-khana. 

Northwest  Persia  was  strongly  pro-German, 
and  German  agents  had  been  there  since  before 
the  war.  While  Persia  remained  nominally 
neutral,  there  was  no  doubt  as  to  where  her 
sympathies  were.     Large  numbers  of  Persians 


r 


222  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

were  serving  with  the  Turks  as  regulars  and 
irregulars.  Persia  had  j  ust  cause  of  complaint 
against  both  sides,  for  both  used  her  territory 
for  military  operations.  As  early  as  1906  Tur- 
key had  sent  her  troops  across  the  border  and 
this  part  of  Persia  was  under  military  occu- 
pation by  the  Russians  when  the  war  began. 
At  the  same  time  Persia  was  making  no  effort 
to  defend  her  frontiers  or  her  subjects,  nor 
did  she  maintain  her  neutrality  equally  with 
both  sides. 

The  Consuls  in  Tabriz  were  urging  the  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Azerbaijan  to  take  measure 
for  maintaining  order  in  Urumia,  but  nothing 
was  accomplished.  There  was  little  responsi- 
ble government  in  Tabriz.  The  Democrats 
largely  controlled  the  political  situation.  The 
Vali  Ahd  and  his  followers  were  pro- German 
and  German  agents  were  operating  there. 

This  border-land  as  part  of  the  Caucasus 
front  was  important  to  the  Allies.  When  the 
Russian  army  deserted,  the  Allied  Staff  in 
Tiflis  sent  French  and  British  officers  to  or- 
ganize the  native  elements  for  holding  back 
the  Turkish  advance.  A  British  military 
officer  came  to  Urmnia  with  promises  of  war 
materials,  funds,  and  British  officers,  and  the 
Armenians   and    Syrians  were  persuaded   to 


HOW  BEST  TO  SERVE  223 

throw  in  their  lot  with  the  Allies  and  hold  that 
front  for  them.  The  plan  as  outlined  was  to 
reorganize  the  whole  front,  the  command  to 
remain  under  the  Russian  Staff  with  French 
and  British  attaches  advising,  and  the  money 
to  be  furnished  by  the  Allies.  Because  of 
changes  in  the  military  plans,  the  promised 
help  never  came  and  this  httle  undisciplined, 
unequipped  and  disorganized  force  was 
left  to  fight  its  own  and  Allied  battles  for 
months  unaided.  During  the  six  months  that 
followed  the  situation  was  so  complex,  so 
chaotic,  so  barbarous  and  full  of  change,  that 
it  is  difficult  to  make  it  comprehensible  to 
those  who  did  not  live  through  it.  But 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  nowhere  on  the  battle- 
fields of  the  war  did  men  fight  more  persist- 
ently against  such  odds  or  stand  more  bravely, 
than  in  this  isolated  corner  of  Persia.  And 
nowhere  have  they  paid  such  a  price  for  dar- 
ing to  be  men. 

This  attempt  of  the  Allies  to  organize  the 
Armenians  and  Syrians  aroused  strong  resent- 
ment among  the  Persians  and  when  the  matter 
was  dropped,  the  Christians  found  themselves 
in  a  much  worse  position  with  the  Persians  than 
they  had  previously  been.  The  Persians  de- 
termined to  "wipe  out"  the  Christians.     The 


224  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

foreigners  were  an  obstacle  to  the  fulfillment 
of  their  plans.  Dr.  Shedd  more  than  any  one 
else  stood  in  their  way  and  his  path  was  a 
thorny  one.  They  were  making  all  sorts  of 
complaints  about  him  at  Tabriz  and  Teheran. 
In  fact,  that  winter  Dr.  Shedd  was  accused  of 
about  everything,  from  recruiting  an  English 
army  and  bribing  the  Governor,  to  robbing  the 
mails  and  stealing  Relief  funds. 

Extracts  from  his  letters  show  his  relation 
to  affairs: 

"Things  are  showing  the  difficulty  of  work- 
ing with  the  Persian  Government  and  of  do- 
ing anything  with  them  without  friction.  The 
Russian  prestige  is  low,  and  without  any 
egotism  I  can  say  that  if  I  disassociate  myself 
with  the  plans,  it  will  be  difficult  to  find  any 
satisfactory  mediimi  of  cooperation  with  the 
Persians.  Again,  on  the  other  side,  with  the 
Syrians,  whether  having  consular  status  or  not, 
I  can  avoid  being  asked  advice  only  by  leaving 
the  place,  and  it  is  very  important  for  us  to 
use  our  influence  to  make  the  plans  under- 
taken effective,  for  on  them  depends  our  safety. 
I  sincerely  hope  that  more  explicit  instructions 
will  come  from  the  State  Department. 

"To  be  able  to  do  anything  in  the  way  of 
keeping  order,  I  must  cooperate  in  general 


DR    SHEDD  WITH  A  GROUP  OF  REFUGEE> 
CITY  COMPOUND,  URUMIA,  1918 


HOW  BEST  TO  SERVE  225 

plans.  Beyond  immediate  events,  I  believe 
there  is  a  service  to  be  rendered  in  making  fu- 
ture adjustments  more  possible  by  diminishing 
friction  and  engendering  good  feeling. 

"Then  also  the  protection  of  American  in- 
terests and  lives  requires  a  position  of  real 
influence  in  these  matters.  .  .  .  Things  are  in 
such  a  critical  condition  that  I  don't  want  to 
leave  anything  undone.  ...  I  need  not  say 
that  the  situation  is  a  delicate  one  and  must 
be  handled  carefully.  I  anticipate  there  will 
be  complaints  against  me  at  Teheran,  and 
if  the  purpose  of  our  diplomacy  is  merely  to 
avoid  complaints,  I  may  be  blamed.  But  if  it 
be  to  try  to  help  secure  order  in  the  country 
for  ourselves  and  others,  I  do  not  see  how  I 
could  follow  any  other  course.  The  position 
is  a  difficult  one  because  telegraphic  communi- 
cations are  cut  with  Tabriz,  and,  I  am  told, 
with  Tiflis. 

"With  regard  to  the  relation  I  should  sus- 
tain toward  the  Russian  plans,  I  shall  certainly 
endeavor  to  disassociate  myself  from  any  offi- 
cial connection  that  might  be  considered  purely 
military,  but  conditions  are  so  critical  that  I 
shall  have  to  consider  the  end  of  securing  safety 
rather  than  the  means,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to 
find  anything  that  is  purely  military.     Things 


226  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

are  very  much  confused.     I  shall  certainly  not 
neglect  the  principle  involved." 
^  The  middle  of  February  he  wrote:     "You 

know  my  instructions  are  to  take  no  part  in 
military  affairs,  and  so  I  am  only  reporting 
conditions.  Murders  are  taking  place  con- 
stantly from  Moslems  and  Christians,  rob- 
beries are  frequent  and  roads  unsafe.  The  Sy- 
rians are  so  involved  with  the  Russians  that 
it  is  impossible  for  the  better  class  of  people 
to  control  affairs,  though  they  have  done  much 
to  restrain  violence.  I  hope  we  shall  get 
through,  but  it  is  certainly  skating  on  thin  ice." 
"There  have  been  efforts  to  bring  Christians 
and  Moslems  together  in  friendly  conferences 
and  good  has  been  accomplished.  These  are 
heartily  supported  by  the  Christian  leaders  and 
with  sincerity.  I  am  not  so  sure  of  the  Mos- 
lems, for  they  always  stop  short  of  any  real 
measure  to  put  in  force  their  democratic  pro- 
fessions, as,  for  example,  placing  Christians  in 
any  responsible  position.  .  .  .  One  thing  that 
remains  is  to  have  Christians  locally  keep  order 
and  to  suffer  wrong  rather  than  give  provoca- 
tion. This  is  being  done  for  the  most  part  and 
the  responsible  people,  Armenians  and  Syri- 
ans, are  likely  to  administer  summary  justice 
on  outlaws  from  Russia,  partly  deserters  from 


HOW  BEST  TO  SERVE  227 

the  Russian  army,  who  are  guilty  of  the  most 
outrageous  crimes." 

There  was  in  Urumia  a  Persian  Cossack 
brigade  of  about  two  hundred,  but  they  were 
so  inefficient  that  they  could  not  be  employed. 
The  question  of  a  gendarmerie  would  not  be 
silenced  and  the  Governor  finally  agreed  to  its 
formation  and  privately  asked  that  British  offi- 
cers come  to  organize  a  sufficient  force  to  con- 
trol the  whole  region.  But  nothing  came  of 
it,  and  he  never  organized  a  force  himself  nor 
permitted  any  one  else  to  do  so  in  any  adequate 
way.  Dr.  Shedd  was  daily  being  entreated  to 
use  his  influence  to  prevent  disorder  and  pro- 
tect life  and  property,  and  while  he  and  M. 
Nikitine  and  others  of  influence  were  making 
every  effort  to  keep  the  various  elements  from 
violent  outbreaks,  the  Governor  simply  played 
with  the  matter  and  could  not  be  induced  to 
act.  The  insincerity,  deceit,  and  endless  in- 
trigues of  the  Persians  made  it  very  hard  to 
work  with  them.  One  day,  after  a  conference, 
the  Governor  said  to  Dr.  Shedd,  "The  great 
difference  I  see  between  you  and  us  is  that 
we  expect  to  accomplish  an  end  by  the  use  of 
lies,  while  you  depend  upon  truth." 

"No  other  man  could  have  accomplished  the 
work  he  did  during  those  trying  years,"  writes 


228  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

an  associate.  "Not  only  was  it  his  wisdom 
which  seldom  failed,  but  his  ability  to  see  what 
was  usable  even  in  the  worst  of  men,  and  to 
command  that  service  as  well  as  the  love  and 
respect  of  the  man  behind  it.  And  there  was 
his  wonderful  patience  at  which  I  often 
marveled;  his  readiness  to  give  way  and  find 
some  other  method  when  his  own  plan  failed. 
I  believe  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  wise  leader- 
ship, there  would  have  been  chaos  and  very 
great  destruction  of  life." 

Besides  the  missionaries,  there  were  about 
fifty  families  of  naturalized  American  citizens 
and  a  large  amount  of  property  under  Dr. 
Shedd's  care.  The  extensive  work  being  done 
by  the  Relief  Committee,  of  which  he  was  chair- 
man, made  it  necessary  for  him  to  use  every 
possible  means  for  safeguarding  supplies  and 
the  recipients  of  American  charity.  His  posi- 
tion of  influence  in  the  community  and  his  con- 
sular duties  involved  him  in  matters  outside 
the  usual  sphere  of  missionary  activity.  "It 
is  the  opinion  of  the  other  missionaries  that 
the  only  way  to  disassociate  the  Mission  from 
this  work,  is  for  me  to  disassociate  myself  from 
the  Mission  for  a  time,"  said  he;  "and  I  am 
afraid  that  this  opinion  is  correct.  I  say,  'I 
am  afraid,'  for  you  will  understand  that  it  is 


HOW  BEST  TO  SERVE  229 

a  wrench  to  be  separated  even  in  name  from 
the  work  that  has  been  my  Hfe." 

We  began  to  make  plans  to  rent  a  native 
house  and  establish  the  Consulate  there,  but 
before  these  plans  could  be  carried  out,  the 
whole  situation  was  thrown  into  utter  confusion 
by  the  attack  on  the  Christians  by  the  Persians, 
February  22. 

It  was  only  a  few  days  before  that  event 
that  Dr.  Shedd  wrote  concerning  his  position, 
"Of  course  I  am  thinking  a  good  deal  about 
the  questions  raised  by  my  assuming  the 
duties  of  Vice- Consul  here,  and  I  am  about 
ready  to  believe  that  it  is  a  mistake  altogether. 
The  real  point  of  the  matter  is  here.  I  have 
a  position  in  the  community  and  relations  with 
so  many  people,  and,  further,  my  purpose  is 
such  that  for  me  to  take  the  official  and  routine 
view,  which  seems  to  control  the  Legation, 
is  impossible.  We  are  in  a  very  delicate  and 
dangerous  situation  here  that  makes  it  difficult 
to  be  bound  by  the  sort  of  policy  that  seeks 
to  avoid  any  criticism  or  conflict,  and  there  is 
too  much  at  stake  to  make  it  possible  to  play 
an  altogether  cautious  game. 

"I  believe  that  you  will  not  think  that  I 
want  to  go  into  any  adventures  or  to  take 
unnecessary  risk,  but,   for  example,   for  me 


230  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

to  refuse  to  advise  with  people  or  to  help  in  the 
organization  of  some  sort  of  police  or  gen- 
darmerie force,  when  there  are  murders  every- 
day, and  when  the  Government  is  helpless,  and 
people  are  ready  to  fly  at  one  another's 
throats,  is  simply  impossible.  For  a  time  the 
matter  is  blocked  and  I  shall  do  nothing.  Or 
for  me  not  to  take  a  strong  line  with  Syrians 
who  under  the  cover  of  being  connected  with 
a  quasi-military  organization  are  robbing  and 
killing,  is  equally  impossible.  If  the  Vice- 
Consulship  will  enable  me  to  do  some  service 
in  protecting  American  lives  and  property, 
and  also  serve  the  community  by  helping  secure 
peace,  I  am  ready  to  sacrifice  a  good  deal  for 
it,  but  if  it  will  hamper  me  by  restricting  my 
influence,  without  increasing  my  opportunity 
for  service,  I  shall  ask  to  be  released.  Please 
don't  think  I  am  criticizing,  I  am  only  trying 
to  find  out  in  what  way  I  can  serve  best." 


CHAPTER  XIV:  STATESMAN 
AND  MEDIATOR 

For  weeks  we  had  been  living  in  the  midst 
of  two  armed  camps.  Dr.  Shedd  was  con- 
stantly busy  with  the  leaders  of  both  sides 
trying  to  prevent  an  outbreak.  At  a  confer- 
ence on  February  22,  each  side  promised  not 
to  attack  the  other.  Scarcely  an  hour  had 
passed  when  the  Persians  made  an  attack  on 
the  Christian  quarter  of  the  city.  The  Chris- 
tians were  not  prepared;  the  men  with  rifles 
were  mostly  in  the  villages  with  their  families. 
As  soon  as  the  sound  of  battle  aroused  those 
in  the  city  to  their  danger,  every  man  or  boy 
who  owned  a  rifle  ran  for  it,  and  from  gate- 
ways, roofs  and  streets,  fought  for  their  fami- 
lies and  homes.  Agha  Petros,  the  Syrian 
leader,  was  the  man  of  the  hour,  and  but  for 
him  and  Malik  Khoshaba,  one  of  our  mountain 
preachers  who  could  fight  as  well  as  preach, 
there  would  have  been  a  terrible  massacre  of 
Christians.  These  two  men  got  together  a  fol- 
lowing and  drove  back  the  Persians  until  they 
had  possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the  city. 

231 


232  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

It  was  an  anxious  time  for  us  for  we  did  not 
know  whether  our  premises  would  be  safe  for 
ourselves  or  for  others.  In  the  afternoon  of 
the  second  day  a  great  shout  of  victory  told 
us  that  Agha  Petros'  men  had  taken  the 
tophhana  or  artillery  square.  Soon  the  white 
flags  began  to  appear  and  in  the  course  of  the 
next  few  days  practically  every  Moslem  house 
was  floating  a  white  rag  from  the  window. 

A  band  of  mullahs  and  others  went  to  Mar 
Shimon,  who  was  then  in  Urumia,  to  surren- 
der, while  the  Governor  sent  a  letter  of  capitu- 
lation. Later  the  leading  Moslems  met  with 
Mar  Shimon  and  the  Syrian  and  Armenian 
leaders  in  a  council  of  war  and  agreed  upon 
terms  of  peace. 

The  next  morning  several  hundred  mullahs, 
merchants,  artisans,  and  other  prominent  men 
of  this  Moslem  city,  led  by  the  Sardar  who  was 
governor  in  1915,  filed  into  the  mission  yard. 
They  planted  their  white  flags  and  the  green 
flag  of  Islam  in  the  snow  banks  in  front 
of  our  door.  They  had  come  to  surrender 
themselves  and  their  city  to  the  man  whose 
confidence  they  had  betrayed  and  would  be- 
tray again,  and  yet  whom  they  were  not  afraid 
to  trust.  Dr.  Shedd  thus  found  himself  in  a 
hard  position  but  he  could  not  escape  the  re- 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        233 

sponsibility.  Neither  side  was  willing  to  trust 
the  other;  both  had  confidence  in  him  and 
wanted  him  in  their  councils.  After  negotia- 
tions with  the  few  hundred  Christians  who  for 
centuries  they  had  despised  and  oppressed 
the  Moslems  returned  to  their  homes,  with 
the  exception  of  thirty  or  forty  who  felt 
most  guilty.  These  took  bast  or  asylum 
with  Dr.  Shedd  under  the  American  flag, 
until  they  could  leave  in  safety.  The  Russian 
military  officers  took  responsibility  for  the 
negotiations  and  gave  a  written  and  signed 
statement  to  the  Persians.  The  Persians 
freely  confessed  their  premeditated  plan  for 
the  annihilation  of  the  Christians  and  laid  the 
blame  chiefly  on  four  men.  Three  of  these 
appealed  to  Dr.  Shedd  for  protection  and  the 
fourth  was  kept  at  the  French  Mission. 
Twenty  of  the  Persian  Cossacks  who  were 
among  those  who  made  the  first  attack  also 
took  bast  with  Dr.  Shedd. 

The  victorious  Christians  had  no  idea  of 
taking  over  the  government,  but  asked  for  a 
Mixed  Council  composed  of  an  equal  number 
of  Christians  and  Moslems.  This  council  was 
formed  and  the  Sardar  was  chosen  governor. 
Ijlal-ul-Mulk,  the  former  governor,  was  too 
much  involved  in  the  treachery  that  led  up  to 


1 


234  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

the  attack  to  be  trusted  again.  It  was  not  easy 
to  set  up  a  government  that  would  function, 
but  the  Syrian  and  Armenian  leaders  made 
every  effort  to  establish  peaceable  relations 
and  get  along  with  the  Moslems  in  working 
out  a  temporary  government  for  Urumia. 

The  Persians  outside  cut  all  lines  of  com- 
munication with  Urumia.  They  held  the  boats 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Lake  and  closed  the 
roads  north  and  south.  We  became  an  iso- 
lated world  of  our  own,  but  not  from  choice. 
The  Urumia  Democrats,  unable  themselves 
to  punish  the  Christians,  appealed  to  their 
friends  in  Tabriz,  who  responded  with  great 
eloquence,  fearful  threats  and  curses  on  the 
"Jilus''  as  they  called  the  mountaineers.  Tele- 
grams were  sent  to  Teheran  complaining  of 
"pernicious  meddling  in  politics"  on  the  part 
of  missionaries  and  of  Dr.  Shedd  in  particular. 

The  Karapapahhs  or  Blackhats  from  the 
south  were  ordered  to  Urumia  to  clean  up  the 
Christians.  They  were  reported  coming 
"weeping"  for  fear  of  the  "Jilus"  whose  repu- 
tation for  valor  had  spread  abroad.  Simku, 
the  notorious  Kurdish  chief,  was  asked  to  go 
to  Urumia  with  his  warriors. 

It  was  necessary  to  get  into  communication 
with  Tabriz  and  settle  matters  on  an  authori- 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        235 

tative  basis,  but  no  native  dared  to  go.  A  mem- 
ber of  the  French  Hospital  Staff  volunteered 
to  go,  report  Urumia  conditions,  and  enlist 
the  help  of  the  Persian  Government.  He  was 
arrested  at  Sharifkhana  on  his  return  trip  by 
the  Democrats,  robbed  of  his  letters,  and 
sent  back  to  Tabriz.  Here  he  was  detained 
several  weeks  and  received  some  rather  rough 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Persians. 

In  Urumia  the  days  were  busy  and  troubled. 
Every  one  turned  to  Dr.  Shedd;  the  Chris- 
tians for  counsel  and  the  Moslems  for  protec- 
tion as  well  as  counsel.  Our  home  was  the 
Consulate  and  the  hub  of  our  universe.  The 
whole  house  had  to  be  given  up  to  the  demands 
of  the  work.  There  were  telephone  men,  bell 
boys,  Persian  and  Russian  scribes,  several  men 
for  receiving  the  hundreds  who  came,  investi- 
gating their  business  and  carrying  messages. 
One  man  was  kept  at  the  telephone  all  night, 
for  there  were  often  S.  O.  S.  calls  and  other 
matters  which  could  not  wait.  Dr.  Shedd  was 
busy  from  morning  till  late  at  night  seeing 
those  who  came  with  every  imaginable  com- 
plaint, petition  or  tale  of  woe.  There  were 
committee  meetings  and  conferences  with  the 
leaders  of  both  sides.  There  were  constant 
efforts  to  keep  order  and  prevent  outrages. 


236  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

The  hardest  elements  to  control  were  the 
Syrian  and  Armenian  Kachaks  who  belonged 
to  none  of  the  organized  forces  and  were  really 
brigands  from  Russia.  They  seemed  to  think 
no  more  of  shooting  a  man  than  of  shooting  a 
rabbit  and  terrorized  Christians  as  well  as 
Moslems. 

Famine  increased  the  difficulty  of  keeping 
order.  Thousands  of  Kurds  because  of  fight- 
ing^and  famine  had  left  their  village  and  come 
to  Urumia  hoping  to  be  fed  by  the  Americans. 
There  were  about  a  thousand  Persian  and 
Kurdish  refugees  in  our  yards  for  five  or  six 
months,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  Kurds  were 
herded  in  empty  houses,  caravansaries,  and 
stables  throughout  the  city,  and  their  condition 
was  most  pitiable.  The  Sunni  Mosque  was  "in- 
describable with  its  filth,  smells,  disease,  hun- 
ger, and  abject  misery.  The  best  the  Relief 
Committee  could  do  was  to  give  them  a  daily 
ration  of  half  a  pound  of  bread  and  as  many 
raisins.  They  died  like  flies,  and  though  we 
tried  to  help  them,  our  best  efforts  could  hardly 
touch  the  surface  of  their  misery.  The  Persian 
authorities  would  not  allow  the  Relief  Com- 
mittee to  bring  their  wheat  from  S  almas. 
Prices  continued  to  rise  and  food  could  not 
be  obtained.     In  the  spring  it  became  neces- 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        237 

sary  to  clean  up  the  city.  The  missionaries 
undertook  the  job  and  buried  over  a  thousand 
bodies  that  had  been  left  just  where  they  died. 
These  were  nearly  all  Kurds  who  had  died  of 
starvation.  A  great  many  horses  died  for  lack 
of  food  and  the  hungry  Kurds  stood  about, 
ready  to  snatch  the  body  as  soon  as  dead. 

The  Mixed  Council  with  the  heads  of  the 
various  organized  forces  were  getting  the  sit- 
uation pretty  well  under  control,  though  the 
Democrats^  as  usual,  were  stirring  up  trouble. 
Said  Dr.  Shedd,  "The  Democrats  are  doing 
all  they  can  to  get  up  an  army  to  ex- 
terminate the  mountaineers.  The  crimes 
that  in  ages  past  have  been  done  in  the  name 
of  autocracy  are  now  being  committed  in  the 
name  of  democracy,  that  being  the  name  to 
conjure  by.  Apparently  in  Teheran  they 
think  that  things  have  moved  too  fast  but 
when  people  are  pushed,  they  cannot  always 
regulate  the  rate  of  locomotion.  They  are  dis- 
avowing the  plans  made  in  Tiflis  by  the  Allied 
officers  there  and  urged  upon  the  people  here 
with  a  .great  deal  of  heat  and  insistence.  It 
is  all  very  mixed  and  only  this  place  could 
furnish  the  ingredients." 

Then  like  a  bolt  from  a  clear  sky  came  the 
assassination  of  Mar  Shimon,  which  completely 


238  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

upset  everything  that  had  been  accomplished 
and  threw  all  that  region  into  a  state  of 
L  anarchy  from  which  it  never  recovered.  The 
Kurdish  chief,  Ismail  Agha,  or  Simku,  as  he 
is  popularly  known,  has  played  an  important 
role  in  the  Urumia  tragedy.  He  had  given 
assurances  of  friendship  to  the  Christians,  but 
at  the  instigation  of  Persians  in  high  position, 
he  most  perfidiously  murdered  the  Syrian 
Patriarch.  Mar  Shimon  had  retiu^ned  to  Sal- 
mas  from  Urumia  and  met  the  envoys  sent  by 
the  Vali  Ahd  to  confer  with  him  in  Dilman, 
the  capital  of  S almas.  They  had  a  satisfactory 
meeting  and  at  the  close  Mar  Shimon  received 
an  invitation  from  Simku  to  meet  him  in  Old 
City  for  a  friendly  conference.  He  went  with 
seventy  or  eighty  of  his  men  and  was  received 
by  Simku  with  great  cordiality.  They  talked, 
drank  tea  together,  and  pledged  their  mutual 
good  will,  and  as  Mar  Shimon  was  leaving, 
Simku  kissed  him  as  a  seal  of  their  confidence 
in  each  other.  Just  as  Mar  Shimon  was  step- 
ping into  his  carriage,  Simku  gave  the  pre- 
arranged signal  to  his  men  on  the  roofs  to  fire. 
The  Patriarch  fell  pierced  with  five  bullets, 
while  his  unsuspecting  guard  dropped  all 
around  him.    The  Moslems  of  the  town  joined 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        239 

with  the  Kurds  and  only  a  few  of  the  guards 
escaped. 

When  news  of  the  treacherous  murder  of 
their  Patriarch  reached  the  mountain  tribes, 
nothing  could  restrain  them  from  taking  what 
they  believed  to  be  their  just  and  necessary 
revenge  and  the  town  of  Dilman  and  most  of 
the  Moslem  villages  of  S almas  paid  the  blood 
debt.  Simku  and  his  warriors  escaped  to  their 
stronghold,  Chara,  a  few  miles  away  and  were 
later  driven  out.  They  went  to  Khoi  and  took 
part  in  the  massacre  of  Chnistians  there. 

It  was  now  more  than  ever  difficult  to  con- 
trol the  mountaineers,  for  according  to  their 
age-long  custom  and  the  common  law  of  the 
moimtains,  having  no  protection  but  what  their 
own  might  secured  them,  they  must  "take  the 
blood  of  their  Patriarch." 

Those  persons  who  had  been  leaders  in  the 
February  plot  were  still  safe  under  Dr.  Shedd's 
protection  because  there  was  no  responsible 
government  to  which  they  might  be  delivered. 
Our  Mission  compounds  were  full  of  Persians 
and  Kurds,  some  innocent  and  some  guilty. 
Thousands  were  being  fed  by  American  char- 
ity. The  responsible  Syrians  and  Armenians 
supported  Dr.  Shedd  in  his  efforts  to  preserve 


240  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

this  custom  of  hast,,  but  it  was  hard  for  the  un- 
tutored, maddened  by  their  sufferings  and  per- 
secutions, to  imder stand  the  justice  which  pro- 
tected these  men  who  had  plotted  their  destruc- 
tion and  whose  allies  had  so  infamously  mur- 
dered their  revered  Patriarch.  Word  had 
reached  Urumia  of  the  massacre  of  the  refugees 
in  Khoi  by  Persians;  many  had  been  killed 
with  special  cruelty.  The  near  relatives  and 
friends  of  these  people  were  among  the  refu- 
gees in  Urumia  and  S almas.  They  wanted 
revenge  and  planned  a  general  attack  on  the 
Moslems  of  Urumia.  Knowledge  of  these 
plans  came  to  Dr.  Shedd  and,  through  his  in- 
fluence with  leaders,  the  catastrophe  was 
averted.  There  are  few  incidents  in  all  the 
experiences  of  those  awful  years  which  so 
strikingly  illustrate  the  power  of  his  personal 
influence,  and  nothing  else  could  have  saved 
the  situation. 

"According  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  our 
people,"  says  one  of  their  leaders,  "it  was  clear 
that  the  relatives  of  the  victims  were  certainly 
entitled  to  revenge  the  blood  of  their  people. 
As  a  nation  we  were  obliged  to  avenge  the 
blood  of  our  Patriarch. 

"When  Dr.  Shedd  heard  of  it,  he  solemnly 
declared  that  such  a  deed  must  not  be.  .  .  . 


MULLAHS,  AND  OTHER  PROMINENT 
MEN  OF  URUMIA,  PROCEEDING  TO  DR. 
SHEDD's  RESIDENCE  TO  PLACE  THEM- 
SELVES AND  THE  CITY  UNDER  HIS 
PROTECTION  AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF 
FEBRUARY,  22,  1918 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        241 

And  through  his  counsel  and  intercession  for 
more  than  four  months  he  kept  Urumia  City 
and  villages,  and  saved  the  lives  of  thousands 
of  Moslems." 

In  April  following  the  fall  of  Van  in  Tur- 
key, twenty  thousand  Armenian  fugitives  with 
their  animals,  bundles,  pots,  and  kettles, 
poured  into  S almas.  They  were  hungry,  so 
they  sacked  Moslem  villages  and  found  food, 
while  the  Moslems  scattered  in  all  directions. 
The  Turks  followed  close  behind  the  fugitives, 
first  in  bands  of  hundreds,  then  by  thousands. 
They  were  received  with  open  arms  by  Per- 
sians and  Kurds,  who  alone  were  not  of  much 
account  as  fighters,  but  joined  with  the  Turks, 
who  were  trained  and  equipped,  they  made  a 
strong  combination  against  Armenians  and 
Syrians.  The  latter  under  Russian  officers  put  "1 
up  a  brave  fight,  holding  back  the  enemy  for 
several  weeks.  In  June  the  little  army  gave 
way  before  repeated  attacks  of  the  Turks  and 
thirty-five  thousand  people,  men,  women,  and 
children,  in  one  night,  rushed  pell-mell  over 
the  pass  into  Urumia,  or  tried  to.  It  was  every  , 
one  for  himself  and  the  Turk  take  the  hind- 
most, which  he  did.  Those  who  came  last  were 
caught  in  the  jam  on  the  pass  and  were  robbed 
and  killed,  or  sent  back  where  later  they  shared 


242  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

the  fate  of  those  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
French  Mission  at  Khosrabad.  The  most  of 
them  reached  Urmnia  and  scattered  about  in 
the  villages  or  camped  around  the  city,  while 
their  animals  pastured  on  the  fields  of  new 
grain  and  clover. 

f  The  Turks  now  gathered  about  Urumia  on 

three  sides  and  attacked  it  fourteen  times. 
The  situation  was  desperate.  There  were 
weeks  of  anxious  fear  with  the  battle  line  but 
a  few  miles  away.  The  Turks  were  pressing 
from  both  passes.  The  lives  of  the  eighty 
thousand  Christians  in  and  around  Urumia 
City  depended  upon  uncertain  bands  of  men 
and  boys,  inadequately  supplied  with  rifles  and 
ammunition,  There  were  times  when  the 
Turks  got  within  four  or  five  miles  of  the  city 
before  being  driven  back.  The  Christians 
were  fighting  for  their  existence  with  backs 
against  the  wall  and  they  fought  like  heroes. 

'^  Many  times  the  men  would  say,  "The  victory 
was  not  ours,  but  God  fought  for  us.  We 
could  not  have  won  against  such  odds."  They 
were  underfed  and  worn  out  with  fighting. 
Most  of  them  were  from  families  who  were 
dependent  upon  the  wheat  given  by  the  Relief 
Committee,  and  when  they  went  to  battle  they 
could  take  with  them  only  enough  bread  for 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        243 

a  day  or  two.  The  Relief  Committee  under- 
took to  furnish  dry  bread  to  the  men  while 
in  the  fighting  line. 

Dr.  Shedd  writing  in  July  said,  "I  have 
given  up  all  pretense  to  neutrality  and  keep- 
ing out  of  military  affairs.  The  people  here 
are  not  fighting  the  people  of  Persia,  and  will 
not  fight  them,  unless  they  are  attacked.  They 
are  repelhng  an  attack  by  an  invading  foe, 
and  our  lives  and  safety  depend  on  the  result 
of  the  effort  to  drive  them  off.  We  are  under- 
taking to  find  money  for  army  use,  expecting 
it  to  be  repaid. 

"In  this  letter  I  wish  to  explain  why  it  has 
seemed  to  me  imperative  to  aid  in  furnishing 
money  for  the  expenditure  of  the  army  here. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  say  that  I  fully 
realize  that  this  would  be  an  extraordinary 
action  in  any  circumstances  and  that  it  is 
directly  in  contravention  of  the  last  instruc- 
tions that  I  have  received.  I  have  been  in- 
fluenced by  the  following  considerations: 

"(1)  The  safety  of  the  community,  includ-  \ 
ing  Americans,  as  regards  both  life  and  prop- 
erty, depends  on  the  threat  of  the  Turkish 
invasion  being  repulsed.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  fighting  between  Moslems  and  Christians, 
but  the  question  of  the  armed  Christians  repel- 


244  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

ling  Turkish  troops  who  have  invaded  the 
country.  The  Turks  demand  that  the  Chris- 
tians give  up  all  arms  and  surrender  to  them. 
The  Persian  Government  has  shown  its  inca- 
pacity to  take  any  action  in  the  matter.  The 
Persian  Government  went  to  pieces  in  the  dis- 
turbances begun  by  Moslems  in  February,  at 
which  time  the  Government  made  no  effort  to 
prevent  the  trouble.  Since  then  its  existence 
has  been  dependent  on  Christians,  and  cer- 
tainly without  the  help  in  various  ways  ren- 
dered by  myself  and  the  American  Relief 
Committee,  it  would  have  been  unable  to  main- 
tain even  a  semblance  of  authority  or  even 
existence. 

"  (2)  No  instructions  have  been  received  by 
the  Government  from  the  authorities  in 
Tabriz ;  and  if  efforts  have  been  made  to  open 
communication  between  Urumia  and  Tabriz, 
they  have  been  unavailing.  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances we  are  compelled  to  choose  between 
anarchy  and  supporting  in  an  effective  way 
the  military  organization  that  exists. 

"Since  the  departure  of  M.  Nikitine,  I  have 
been  the  only  representative  of  the  Allied 
powers  here,  except  the  officers  of  the  Russian 
Caucasus  army.  Conditions  in  Russia  have 
reduced  the  influence  of  the  Russian  repre- 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        245 

sentatives  very  much.  M.  Nikitine  was  able 
to  maintain  influence  very  much  by  his  per- 
sonal hold  on  the  community. 

"(3)  Military  organization  here  was  begun 
by  the  instance  of  the  Staff  in  Tiflis,  including 
the  French  and  British  attaches.  Later,  it 
was  disavowed  by  the  diplomatic  authorities  at 
Teheran.  The  latest  information  which  I 
have  myself  is  to  the  effect  that  the  petition  of 
the  Syrian  National  Committee  asking  that 
they  be  taken  under  the  care  of  the  Allied 
powers  was  favorably  considered.  I  have 
heard  also  indirectly  that  money  was  ready  in 
Tabriz  for  the  army  here.  The  people  raised 
voluntary  contributions  and  kept  going  for 
a  time,  but  that  is  no  longer  practicable.  No 
one  else  has  the  requisite  financial  standing  in 
the  community. 

"(4)  The  situation  here  has  been  and  still 
is  critical,  and  it  has  been  necessary  to  make 
decisions  in  important  matters  without  any 
possible  way  of  asking  for  instructions  or  re- 
ceiving them.  I  am  ready,  of  course,  to  give 
my  reasons  for  that  which  has  taken  place  and 
I  realize  that  with  the  imperfect  information 
that  we  have  had  as  to  conditions  outside,  my 
decisions  may  have  been  at  fault.  The  money 
that  has  been  advanced  is  being  used  almost 


246  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

entirely  for  food  for  the  army  and  the  expendi- 
ture is  carefully  supervised.  The  persons  fed 
are  largely  the  same  people  whom  we  have 
been  helping  through  the  organization  of  our 
Relief  Committee." 

In  April  the  French  Hospital  Staff  had 
withdrawn  from  Urumia.  Mr.  Nikitine  went 
with  them.  Mr.  Allen  had  gone  with  his  fam- 
ily at  the  same  time.  Dr.  Packard  and  Dr. 
Dodd  were  prostrated  with  fever  for  many 
weeks,  and  Dr.  Ellis  was  left  with  the  super- 
intendence of  the  hospital,  the  care  of  the  sick 
missionaries,  the  Mission  and  Relief  treasuries, 
and  was  Dr.  Shedd's  valued  counselor,  though 
he  had  been  in  Persia  less  than  three  years. 
All  the  other  Americans  with  Syrian  helpers 
were  busy  with  the  care  of  refugees,  the  sick, 
and  other  relief  and  mission  work.  Dr. 
Shedd's  health  was  breaking  under  the  strain 
and  there  was  fear  of  a  recurrence  of  tubercu- 
losis. He  had  been  sleeping  on  the  roof  until 
the  frequent  cries  for  help,  the  incessant  firing 
of  rifles  all  night  long,  and  the  wailing  of  the 
hungry  in  the  streets  drove  him  inside.  Here 
the  ringing  of  the  telephones  with  their  de- 
mands upon  him  prevented  proper  sleep.  One 
got  a  great  many  thrills  by  day  and  night,  for 
though  Dr.  Shedd  had  no  force  at  his  com- 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        247 

mand,  the  appeals  usually  came  to  him. 
Isaiah's  summary  of  righteousness,  "Seek 
justice,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  father- 
less, plead  for  the  widow,"  was  never  more  lit- 
erally wrought  out  in  life. 

Day  after  day  the  leaders  met  with  him, 
frequently  in  our  living  room,  and  often  it 
seemed  as  if  each  man  were  striving  for  place 
or  power  for  himself  or  his  party  when  the  fate 
of  tens  of  thousands  depended  upon  their  de- 
cisions. There  was  no  confidence  between 
Christians  and  Moslems.  The  Moslems  would 
not  allow  that  Christians  had  any  rights  nor 
Would  they  live  up  to  their  agreements.  Be- 
tween the  Armenians  and  Syrians  there  was 
often  jealousy  and  distrust.  The  atmosphere 
w^as  full  of  insincerity,  deceit,  and  intrigue. 
"Wlien  I  suggested  that  close  and  constant 
association  with  these  things  might  affect  his 
own  character,  Dr.  Shedd  vehemently  replied, 
*'If  a  man  just  hates  a  lie,  he  need  not  fear." 
He  wasted  no  time  in  accusations  or  recrimi- 
nations, nor  was  he  deceived.  He  often  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  unified  action  when  no  one 
else  could  possibly  have  done  so.  The  Persian 
Government  had  gone  to  pieces,  and  in  the 
chaos  everybody  expected  Dr.  Shedd  to  do 
the  impossible  and  placed  on  him  the  respon- 


248  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

sibility  for  disorders  which  could  not  be  con- 
trolled. "Lonely  is  the  man  who  understands," 
and  more  and  more  he  was  left  to  struggle 
with  the  situation  alone,  and  to  guide  our  little 
ship  of  state  without  chart  or  compass  through 
a  sea  of  blood  and  anarchy.  When  I  insisted 
that  we  must  get  away  to  some  place  where  he 
could  recuperate,  he  thought  for  a  moment 
then  quietly  replied,  "I  cannot  leave  till  the 
Enghsh  come." 

There  were  reports  that  the  British  were 
advancing  through  Mesopotamia  and  we 
turned  our  faces  in  that  direction,  hoping 
against  hope,  for  we  had  heard  these  reports 
for  months,  and  still  they  came  no  nearer. 
That  Fourth  of  July  was  no  glorious  Fourth 
to  us,  but  a  day  of  fear  and  distress  and  almost 
despair,  but  for  our  faith  that  God  had  not 
forsaken  us.  Thousands  were  praying  for  the 
sea  to  divide  for  that  great  multitude  of  people. 
Everybody  was  getting  ready  for  flight.  The 
only  possible  avenue  of  escape  now  was  the 
southern  pass  and  we  must  fight  our  way 
through  and  try  to  reach  the  British  somewhere 
to  the  south. 

"Fighting  has  been  Oriental,  though  there 
has  been  restraint  on  the  part  of  the  leaders," 
wrote  Dr.  Shedd.  "Moslems  before  and  during 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        249 

this  time  have  been  guilty  of  perfidy  in  many 
ways  and  it  i^  hard  to  believe  them  in  any 
promise.  It  has  been  a  comphcated  and  deli- 
cate situation  and  I  have  not  been  permitted 
to  communicate  with  Mr.  Paddock.  The  mat- 
ter of  protecting  Moslems  has  been  difficult 
and  the  feeling  among  some  of  the  Christians 
has  been  pretty  ugly  toward  us,  or  perhaps 
I  should  be  more  accurate  in  saying,  toward 
myself.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  credited  or 
charged  by  the  Persians,  more  perhaps  in  Ta- 
briz and  Khoi  than  here,  with  being  the  leader 
in  all  sorts  of  things.  But  aside  from  the  opin- 
ions of  others,  it  has  been  hard  to  decide  on  thq 
right  course  to  follow.  .  ,  .  The  main  pur- 
pose has  been  to  secure  peace  and  order.  .  .  . 

"But  it  is  all  problematical  and  I  have  made 
up  my  mind  long  ago  that  to  guide  one's 
actions  by  their  probable  effect  on  the  'Work,' 
instead  of  by  the  single  purpose  to  do  Chris- 
tian service,  is  neither  the  highest  policy  nor 
the  highest  morals.  So  our  right  course  is  to 
save  life  now  while  it  is  so  cheap,  and  to  re- 
strain evil  passions  now  while  they  are  so  un- 
restrained, and  also  to  be  loyal  to  our  Church 
and  national  responsibilities. 

"While  in  our  native  Church,  there  have 
been  lamentable  lapses,  a  very  large  propor- 


250  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

tion  are  living  up  to  the  high  ideals  of  Chris- 
tian conduct,  toward  enemies  as  well  as  toward 
neighbors.  We  are  hving  in  another  age,  and 
we  see  the  passions  and  disorders  that  mark 
Oriental  history  from  the  earliest  time  at  work 
before  our  eyes. 

"We  are  in  a  peculiar  position  here  and  it 
would  be  easy  to  place  us  in  a  very  unenviable 
light  with  reference  to  undoubted  atrocities 
that  have  taken  place  and  are  taking  place. 
Maybe  I  can  serve  as  a  sort  of  scapegoat  for 
the  missionaries.  What  we  have  seen  here 
makes  one  feel  more  than  ever  the  incompati- 
bihty  of  Islam  with  modern  ideals,  or  perhaps 
one  should  say  with  Christian  ideals.  I  am  not 
sure  that  it  is  not  irrepressible  conflict  politi- 
cally as  well  as  religiously.  The  Pseudo-demo- 
cracy of  Persia,  that  lent  itself  to  the  foment- 
ing of  religious  hatreds  and  sold  itself  to  Ger- 
man money,  will  probably  be  discredited,  and 
maybe  there  will  be  in  its  place  something  more 
genuine  and  hopeful.  It  may  be  that  Islam 
will  learn  a  lesson  as  to  its  incapacity  and  will 
find  out  the  reason.  If  people  will  only  lose 
\  faith  in  the  intrigue  and  deceit  in  which  they 
place  their  hopes  in  this  affair,  it  will  be  worth 
a  great  deal  in  the  end.  Our  position  in  the 
community  has  been  a  great  deal  more  promi- 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        251 

nent  than  we  would  like,  and  one  wonders 
when  we  shall  settle  down  again  to  the  mis- 
sionary work  that  absorbs  our  energies  and 
time.  In  a  good  deal  of  this  I  can  only  rest  on 
the  belief  that  we  have  earnestly  desired  and 
prayed  to  be  guided,  and  that  to  doubt  guid- 
ance in  the  past  is  as  wrong  as  to  doubt  that 
we  shall  be  guided  in  the  future. 

"We  have  been  in  a  sort  of  whirlpool  caused 
by  the  currents  and  tempests  of  the  Great  War 
and  for  a  time  entirely  cut  off  from  the  stream 
of  great  events.  For  two  months  we  have 
maintained  a  police  force  in  the  city  and  vil- 
lages. It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  we 
have  saved  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  grain 
by  protecting  crops  from  being  pastured,  and 
in  other  ways  we  have  saved  hfe  and  property. 
In  fact,  we  have  kept  the  machinery  going  and 
have  maintained  at  least  the  appearance  of 
Persian  Government  authority.  We  are  sup- 
porting Turkish  prisoners,  about  two  hundred, 
and  there  are  heavy  expenses  in  the  Consular 
work. 

"Our  life  here  is  a  striking  example  of  what 
all  life  must  be  in  its  larger  aspects,  a  drama 
of  which  we  see  only  one  side  and  that  only 
in  part.  What  goes  on  here  is  a  part  of  what 
is  going  on  in  the  World  War,  but  we  are  cut 


252  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

off  from  the  rest  and  see  only  our  little  frag- 
ment. Consequently,  it  is  very  unintelligible 
to  us  here,  and  we  are  working  largely  in  the 
dark.  The  other  day,  the  Turks  sent  a  lieu- 
tenant with  a  flamboyant  letter  telling  of  the 
Allied  defeats  the  world  over,  in  France,  in 
Crimea,  Hindustan,  Persia  and  elsewhere.  So 
much  was  said  that  some  of  it  certainly  is  a  lie ; 
but  one  knows  so  little  that  he  cannot  avoid 
some  nervousness.  Isn't  that  the  way  in  our 
relation  to  the  meaning  of  life,  and  especially 
the  great  struggle  between  good  and  evil? 
"Whatever  we  do  is  part  of  the  great  conflict, 
and  this  gives  meaning  to  our  part,  and  dignity 
and  assurance.  .  .  . 

"One  day  I  got  into  a  bit  of  massacring 
and  saw  how  it  is  done.  I  won't  forget  soon 
and  hope  I  may  never  see  the  thing  again. 
For  a  few  minutes  I  did  not  know  but  that 
I  might  take  a  more  direct  part  in  it  than 
I  wished  to  take.  I  was  trying  to  stop  it  all 
and  probably  did  some  good.  We  have  here 
some  seventy-five  or  eighty  thousand  Syrians 
and  Armenians,  and  scarcely  a  third  of  them 
belong  to  Urumia.  The  Moslems  are  having 
the  experience  of  being  the  under  dog,  so  to 
speak.  It  is  a  bitter  experience  for  them  and 
possibly  some  of  them  realize  that  I  and  the 


STATESMAN  AND  MEDIATOR        253 

rest  of  us  are  trying  to  do  what  we  can  to  keep 
them  from  being  wronged.  One  sees  the  ef- 
fects of  the  missionary  work  on  the  people  in 
the  difference  between  the  Urumia  Christians 
and  the  others.  If  we  had  only  Urumia  Chris- 
tians to  deal  with,  or  others  like  them,  our 
whole  task  would  be  much  easier.  I  wonder  if 
any  one  ever  had  quite  such  a  mixed  crowd  of 
people  as  I  have  to  deal  with  and  restrain  and 
do  work  with.  I  suppose  that  others  have 
had  just  as  hard  a  job  but  I  often  wish  I 
could  get  away  from  it  all." 

It  was  July  8,  when  a  British  aeroplane 
flew  over  the  city,  causing  great  excitement. 
Everybody  rushed  to  the  roofs  and  some  began 
firing,  thinking  it  was  Turkish.  It  rose  and 
flew  toward  the  College,  circling  round  over 
the  tall  sycamore  trees.  There  the  people  saw 
the  tricolors  and  became  frantic  with  joy  and 
shouted  and  waved  from  the  roofs.  Lieuten- 
ant Pennington,  the  aviator,  knew  then  that 
the  Turks  were  not  yet  in  Urumia  and  landed 
a  mile  or  two  from  the  city.  Two  or  three 
thousand  people  ran  out  to  meet  him,  pros- 
trating themselves  before  him,  kissing  his 
hands,  his  feet  and  clothing.  He  was  to  them 
a  heavenly  messenger  and  brought  hope  from 
the  only  direction  that  any  could  have  reached 


254  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

us.  The  next  morning  the  aeroplane  flew  away 
leaving  British  promises  that  they  would  send 
a  squadron  to  meet  a  Syrian- Armenian  force 
at  Sain  Kala  in  two  weeks  with  rapid-firing 
guns,  armnunition,  money,  and  British  officers. 
That  meant  they  would  reach  Urumia  in  three 
weeks.  Dr.  Shedd  was  exhausted  and  when 
I  spoke  of  relief  in  three  weeks,  he  sighed, 
*'Can  I  hold  out  three  weeks  longer?" 

The  army  began  making  preparations  to 
meet  the  British  with  true  Oriental  lack  of 
haste  and  efficiency.  The  first  difficulty  was 
getting  food  supplies.  There  was  no  wheat 
to  he  bought  or  confiscated  and  so  they  had 
to  harvest  and  mill  the  new  wheat.  They 
started  late,  a  thousand  men  under  Agha 
Petros,  fought  two  or  three  battles  with  the 
Turks,  and  reached  Sain  Kala  several  days 
behind  the  schedule,  to  find  the  British  squad- 
ron had  withdrawn.  There  was  consequently 
a  delay  of  several  days  before  they  all  joined 
up  at  Sain  Kala. 

In  the  meantime  affairs  in  Urumia  were 
not  going  well.  The  force  that  remained 
could  not  hold  back  the-  Turks  who  were  press- 
ing from  the  north;  flight  was  imminent. 


CHAPTER  XV:  THE  FINISHED 
TASK 

The  long  dreaded  disaster  was  precipitated 
July  31.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  previous 
day  word  came  that  the  movement  had 
begun  en  masse.  As  we  still  hoped  to  hold 
on,  Dr.  Shedd  and  Mar  Shimon  went  out  to 
try  to  stop  it,  knowing  that  just  as  soon  as 
the  news  of  the  flight  spread,  the  Christians 
would  be  at  the  mercy  of  their  enemies.  Their 
efforts  were  in  vain ;  the  Armenians  and  moun- 
tain Syrians  who  were  refugees  anyway,  were 
on  the  move,  and  it  was  impossible  for  the 
Urumia  Christians  to  remain  alone. 

When  Dr.  Shedd  returned,  he  found  the 
leading  Syrian  and  Armenian  men  gathered 
at  our  house  for  consultation.  They  talked 
till  midnight,  but  nothing  could  be  done.  At 
three  in  the  morning  word  came  that  the  Turks 
and  Kurds  were  advancing.  Dr.  Shedd  at 
once  notified  the  College,  City,  and  other 
places  within  reach.  I  began  to  get  ready 
for  our  journey  the  things  we  had  gathered 
together  a  month  before  when  we  thought  we 

255 


256  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

were  going.  There  were  food,  clothing,  bed- 
ding and  a  hundred  other  things,  for  time, 
place  and  route  were  very  indefinite  and  we 
would  not  be  able  to  buy  supplies  along  the 
way.  Dr.  Shedd  hadn't  a  minute  for  prepara- 
tion; people  came  to  him  by  the  score  till  the 
last  moment.  At  5  A.  M.  he  called  on  the 
Governor,  Ijlal-ul-Mulk,  to  commit  our  prop- 
erty to  his  care  and  make  a  last  plea  for  those 
who  would  be  left.  A  few  days  previously, 
the  Governor  had  urged  him  not  to  go,  inviting 
him  to  stay  with  him  during  the  first  days  of 
disorder  when  the  Kurds  and  Turks  came  in. 
After  the  February  attack  the  feeling  against 
all  foreigners  had  been  so  bitter  that  we  all 
planned  to  leave  in  case  of  flight.  As  months 
passed  and  we  were  able  to  show  our  true  posi- 
tion by  helping,  feeding,  and  protecting  thou- 
sands of  Kurds  and  Persians,  the  feeling 
changed.  All  but  my  husband  and  myself  de- 
cided to  stay  and  take  the  chances  in  being 
for  a  while  under  Turkish  regime  at  the  Hos- 
pital Compound  rather  than  risk  the  dangers, 
privations,  and  sufferings  of  such  a  long  and 
indefinite  journey.  There  were  little  children 
and  much  serious  illness  in  our  mission  circle, 
which  made  it  a  practical  impossibility  for  most 
to  go.     Then  there  was  the  question  of  our 


OUR  ARMY  OF  DEFENCE,  URUMIA,   1918 


ARMENIAN  AND  SYRIAN  REFUGEES  IN  THE  AVENUE  LEADING  OUT  OF 
THE   KURDISH  GATE,  URUMIA.   1918 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  257 

property  and  future  work,  and  though  we  had 
learned  much  about  the  Turk,  we  did  not  an- 
ticipate the  worst  that  came.  Dr.  Shedd's  posi- 
tion was  different  from  that  of  the  others.  He 
had  been  regarded  as  the  leader  in  our  world, 
and  was  held  responsible  for  everything  that 
happened.  The  Turks  blamed  him  more  than 
any  one  else  for  the  long  fight  they  had  had 
to  make  for  Urumia  and  made  all  sorts  of 
threats  against  him.  After  the  Governor 
urged  his  remaining,  even  though  he  might 
safely  do  so,  we  thought  he  ought  to  go. 
There  was  no  leadership  among  the  people. 
He  was  the  one  who  could  do  most  with  and 
for  them.  They  begged  him  to  go  as  they 
would  need  some  one  to  speak  for  them  when- 
ever the  flight  might  stop,  as  well  as  to  advise 
and  direct  along  the  way. 

The  missionary  men  from  the  College  came 
to  see  us  off  and  Dr.  Packard  placed  our  city 
property  in  charge  of  a  Turkish  officer,  a  pris- 
oner who  had  been  under  treatment  at  the 
hospital.  We  left  about  7:30  and  two 
or  three  hours  later,  Kurds  and  Turks 
reached  the  city.  As  we  drove  out,  my  hus- 
band said  quite  cheerfully,  "Well,  we're  going 
to  have  some  more  experiences  together''  and 
I  replied,  "Just  so  it's  together"    Then,  as  he 


258  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

looked  upon  that  fleeing  multitude,  "Oh,  to 
liave  tried  so  hard  and  to  have  failed!"  he  said. 
Eut  there  was  no  failure  on  his  part;  except 
for  him  it  would  have  come  long  before.  The 
cannon  were  booming  in  the  suburbs  as  we 
went  down  the  Avenue  to  the  river. 

The  first  day  there  were  numerous  little 
bridges  made  of  sticks  and  earth,  over  which 
quilts  were  thrown  to  make  them  passable  for 
carts.  The  jam  at  the  bridges  was  indescrib- 
able confusion ;  every  kind  of  vehicle,  ox-carts, 
buffalo-wagons,  troikas  or  springless  wagons, 
furgans  like  prairie  schooners,  hay  wagons, 
phaetons,  and  Red  Cross  carts,  remnants  of 
the  Russian  hospital,  and  many  others  in- 
vented for  the  occasion.  There  were  herds  of 
thousands  of  sheep  and  goats  driven  along 
for  the  first  few  days,  and  donkeys,  horses, 
buffaloes,  oxen,  cows  with  their  calves,  and 
mules.  All  gave  a  fine  opportunity  for  ob- 
serving their  good  and  bad  points  as  beasts 
of  burden.  By  evening  we  found  ourselves 
in  a  long  line  of  vehicles  between  two  walls, 
in  a  road  approaching  a  narrow  Russian-built 
bridge  across  the  Baranduz  river,  16  miles 
from  the  city. 

It  grew  dark  and  we  could  not  cross  until 
the  moon  came  up  shortly  after  midnight. 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  259 

Each  kept  his  place  in  the  line  and  we  lay- 
down  in  the  bottom  of  our  cart  and  tried  to 
sleep,  without  success.  At  two  we  crossed  the 
river  and  when  we  reached  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  stopped  to  make  tea  with  the  samo- 
var before  starting  up.  Along  the  road  were 
scattered  samovars,  kettles,  carpets,  and  bed- 
ding which  were  being  thrown  away  to  lighten 
the  loads.  At  the  top  of  the  pass  was  a  dying 
baby.  We  covered  it  over  to  protect  it  from 
the  sun  and  passed  on.  On  the  descent  were 
a  number  of  bodies  of  those  who  had  given 
out. 

At  noon  of  the  third  day  we  reached  Haida- 
rabad  at  the  southern  end  of  Urumia  Lake, 
where  the  Russians  had  built  up  a  little  port, 
now  entirely  deserted.  Some  of  the  travelers 
stopped  to  rest,  but  we  went  on.  In  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon,  a  rider  dashed  up  to  us  with 
the  word  that  those  in  the  rear  had  been  at- 
tacked at  Haidarabad  and  that  the  Turks  were 
but  an  hour  behind  us.  It  seemed  like  our  death 
knell.  Everybody  began  urging  the  tired  ani- 
mals on  and  those  on  foot  made  another  effort 
to  hasten  their  pace.  It  seemed  that  at  any 
moment  we  should  hear  the  cries  of  those  be- 
hind as  the  enemy  fell  upon  them.  All  the 
fighters  had  gone  on  ahead,  except  a  few  men 


260  THE  MEASUHE  OF  A  MAN 

with  rifles  scattered  through  the  crowds  with 
their  families. 

For  a  few  moments  neither  my  husband  nor 
I  spoke.  There  was  nothing  left  on  earth  to 
do.  I  had  put  into  the  hand  bag  a  little  Brown- 
ing revolver  which  had  been  given  him  several 
months  before  when  he  was  in  constant  per- 
sonal danger.  It  had  usually  reposed  in  the 
bureau  drawer.  He  had  never  used  it  and  we 
both  agreed  that  he  would  not  now.  Later, 
word  passed  along  the  line  that  we  were  not 
being  followed,  but  we  did  not  dare  trust  it. 

Dr.  Shedd  might  be  able  to  do  something  as 
a  mediary  for  the  people,  so  he  whipped  up 
the  tired  horse  to  reach  as  quickly  as  possible 
the  next  town,  Mehmetgar,  where  he  hoped 
to  find  the  Persian  authorities  and  persuade 
them  to  intercede  for  the  people.  But  they 
had  all  vanished  on  the  approach  of  this  horde 
of  fugitives. 

We  were  climbing  a  mountainous  road 
and  people  were  throwing  away  their  stuff 
and  leaving  heavy  vehicles  behind.  Along  the 
river  at  Mehmetgar  were  camped  perhaps 
fifty  thousand  people,  expecting  to  spend 
the  night  there.  !N'ow  all  began  to  move, 
though  it  was  sunset.  We  sent  back  a  bor- 
rowed horse  to  bring  our  steamer  trunk  and 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  261 

left  the  wagon  with  the  rest  of  the  load  on 
the  hill. 

Traveling  on  in  the  dark  over  bad,  uncer- 
tain roads,  we  found  ourselves  in  a  field  where 
a  number  stopped  for  the  night.  Guards  Vv^ere 
placed  in  turn  and  we  lay  down  in  our  blankets, 
but  could  not  sleep,  and  long  before  light  were 
on  the  road  again,  not  knowing  how  near  the 
enemy  might  be.  In  leaving  Urumia  we 
hoped  in  three  or  four  days  to  meet  the  army 
returning  with  the  British  and  planned  that 
the  crowd  would  camp  somewhere  imtil 
Urumia  was  retaken,  but  we  were  bitterly  dis- 
appointed; there  was  no  sign  of  them. 

Near  the  top  of  the  mountain  trail,  sitting 
on  the  grass  all  alone,  was  a  tiny  baby  girl 
about  a  year  old,  quite  deserted.  We  pulled 
up  the  horse  and  took  her  in.  She  was  ill  and 
it  was  impossible  to  care  for  her  along  that 
road.  At  the  next  village  we  found  a  young 
Kurdish  woman  who  promised  to  keep  her 
until  our  return.  We  gave  the  woman  a  goodly 
sum  of  money  and  promised  more  if  the  baby 
looked  well  when  we  came  back.  How  little 
did  we  know  of  what  lay  before  us ! 

Frequently  we  heard  of  attacks  on  the  rear; 
some  were  killed,  others  taken  captive  and  we 
heard  no  more  about  them.    The  fugitives  were 


262  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

kept  in  a  state  of  nervous  fear  and  were  ready 
to  run  and  leave  their  loads  of  food  and  bed- 
ding at  the  first  alarm.  The  money  being  silver 
was  heavy  and  usually  carried  in  the  load,  often 
hidden  in  the  flour.  When  the  attack  came, 
the  donkey  would  stick  in  a  mud  hole  or  be 
too  tired  to  be  urged  forward  and  the  owner 
would  run  for  his  life  and  remember  too  late 
that  he  had  left  his  money. 

We  reached  Mianduab  at  noon  of  the  fifth 
day.  Thousands  had  stopped  there  for  a  noon 
rest  and  we  were  able  for  the  first  time  to  buy 
bread  and  fruit.  Dr.  Shedd  tried  to  call  on 
the  officials,  but  all  had  departed.  Here  word 
reached  us  that  the  British  were  at  Sain  Kala, 
less  than  two  days  away.  That  night  at  Kara- 
war  an  we  camped  with  a  few  others  in  an 
orchard  enclosed  by  a  high  wall.  The  next 
morning  at  six  we  sat  down  on  the  grass  to 
drink  tea,  when  suddenly  a  lively  firing  opened 
up  just  outside  the  wall.  Dr.  Shedd  jmnped 
on  a  horse  standing  nearby  and  rushed  out  to 
get  the  men  with  rifles  to  make  a  stand.  The 
rest  of  us  tumbled  our  stuff  into  the  carts  and 
hitched  up  the  horses.  Every  one  was  excited 
and  nervous  and  didn't  know  which  way  to  go. 
Our  road  was  where  they  were  fighting.  We 
engaged  a  Moslem  boy  to  guide  us  through 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  263 

the  narrow  streets  and  alleys  of  the  town. 
When  we  finally  reached  the  main  road,  we 
were  in  the  extreme  rear;  only  a  few  wagons 
and  pedestrians  were  behind  us.  Hurrying 
on  a  mile  or  two,  we  found  the  main  line  of 
animals  and  vehicles  jammed  in  between  two 
walls  and  unable  to  move  until  the  way  was 
opened  at  the  front  where  there  was  also  fight- 
ing. On  the  right  was  the  river  and  at  one 
point  the  enemy  came  up  the  bank  and  left 
a  number  of  dead,  mostly  women.  We  drove 
our  cart  under  the  shelter  of  a  wall  and  had 
protection  from  one  side,  for  rifles  were  crack- 
ing all  about  us. 

All  this  time  I  hadn't  seen  my  husband; 
he  was  in  the  rear  encouraging  those  there 
and  keeping  the  gunmen  at  their  task  while 
the  families  got  away.  One  of  the  women 
afterward  told  me  that  she  and  her  family 
would  certainly  have  been  captured  or  killed 
at  this  place,  except  for  Dr.  Shedd,  and  that 
many  others  would  have  met  the  same  fate, 
for  the  men  with  rifles  would  not  have  stayed 
but  that  they  were  ashamed  to  run  away  when 
Dr.  Shedd  was  there.  When  we  came  up  with 
the  last  ones,  he  was  so  conspicuous  in  khaki 
and  helmet  on  horseback  that  fearing  he  might 
be  picked  off  by  those  firing  from  across  river. 


264  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

I  went  to  him  and  begged  him  to  look  out  for 
his  safety,  which  was  the  last  thing  he  could  do. 

The  force  pursuing  us  was  a  band  of  a  few 
hundred  Persians  and  Turks  under  Majd-es- 
Saltanah,  formerly  of  Urumia. 

When  the  firing  at  the  front  ceased,  that 
desperate  jumble  of  humanity  began  franti- 
cally to  move  forward;  it  was  pandemonium. 
Many  carts  and  wagons  were  discarded  with 
little  children  and  old  women  left  sitting  in 
them,  too  stupefied  to  stir.  Many  completely 
lost  their  heads  and  did  not  know  what  they 
were  doing.  Hundreds  left  their  food  and 
went  hungry  for  days. 

One  of  my  school-girls  told  me  afterwards 
that  when  she  reached  the  river  at  this  place, 
pursued  by  those  demons  and  unable  to  carry 
both  her  children,  she  held  one  child  over  her 
head  and  waded  through  the  river.  Looking 
back  she  saw  that  it  was  too  late  to  return  for 
the  other  one  and  he  was  left  sitting  there 
on  the  opposite  bank.  The  memory  of  her 
deserted  baby  haunted  her  day  and  night. 

The  firing  kept  up  three  or  four  hours,  then 
there  was  a  respite.  Again  in  the  afternoon 
we  were  followed  by  our  foes,  who  kept  under 
shelter  themselves  as  they  fired  into  the  long 
line  of  fleeing  folk  stretching  out  for  miles 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  265 

along  the  base  of  the  mountains.  The  men 
sometimes  gave  them  chase,  but  usually  fired 
from  the  road  as  they  hurried  their  families 
along.  Again  Dr.  Shedd  got  on  a  horse  and 
rode  among  them  to  "give  them  heart"  and 
detain  some  riflemen  among  those  too  weary 
to  keep  up. 

The  road  was  steep,  our  horses  were  done 
out,  bullets  were  flying  all  about  us,  one  almost 
grazed  Dr.  Shedd's  face.  It  looked  as  if  we 
should  have  to  leave  everything  and  run  for 
our  lives  while  our  pursuers  stopped  to  loot. 
There  was  little  six-year-old  May  whom  we 
had  picked  up  when  her  father's  carts  had 
given  out.  She  had  unconcernedly  curled  up 
on  the  seat  for  a  nap.  I  wrapped  some  bread 
in  a  cloth  and  took  the  bag  of  money  from  the 
satchel  in  order  to  be  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice  from  my  husband,  if  they  should  swoop 
down  upon  us.  This  kind  of  cowardly  fighting 
was  kept  up  by  the  Persians  imtil  late  in  the 
afternoon,  when  Azariah,  one  of  the  Urumia 
leaders,  who  had  come  back  to  help  us,  arrived 
with  a  few  men  and  got  possession  of  the 
ridge  of  hills  and  so  protected  the  exhausted 
fugitives  as  they  crept  along  their  dolorous 
way. 

Toward  evening  we  were  met  by  a  squad  of 


266  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

nine  Britishers  under  Captain  Savage,  with 
Lewis  guns.  They  greeted  us  and  passed  on 
to  rescue  the  stragglers.  Word  had  reached 
the  British  camp  that  Dr.  Shedd  and  I  had 
been  taken  prisoners  and  these  officers  had 
come  to  our  help.  One  of  them,  Captain 
Nicols,  never  returned. 

We  had  been  under  fire  nearly  all  day. 
Dr.  Shedd  was  exhausted;  he  had  eaten  prac- 
tically nothing,  having  left  his  breakfast  with- 
out a  bite.  We  had  hardly  thought  of  food 
all  day.  Yet  he  was  glad  in  the  thought  that 
in  the  morning  we  would  at  last  reach  the  Brit- 
ish and  he  could  throw  off  his  crushing  burden 
of  responsibility  for  the  safety  and  for  the  sins 
of  the  people.  We  found  a  quiet  place  near 
a  threshing  floor  to  camp,  and  through  the 
kindness  of  Syrian  friends,  had  a  bowl  of  hot 
food  that  night.  Dr.  Shedd  refused  to  eat 
all  his  portion,  for  near  by  was  one  of  his  stu- 
dents who,  with  a  band  of  six  or  eight  boys, 
had  fought  bravely  all  day,  and  he  must  share 
the  best  there  was. 

We  were  up  before  light,  drank  a  little  coffee 
and  were  soon  on  the  road.  We  reached  Sain 
Kala  about  nine  o'clock  and  walked  out  to 
the  British  camp  where  we  were  cordially 
received  by  Major  Moore  and  Captain  George 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  267 

S.  Reed.  The  latter  was  an  old  acquaintance, 
having  been  connected  with  the  Mission  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  Urumia  a 
few  years  before.  My  husband  was  so  elated ; 
there  was  a  ring  in  his  voice,  a  light  in  his  eye, 
a  buoyancy  in  his  step,  that  I  had  not  seen  for 
months,  and  I  thought  oiu*  worst  troubles  were 
past. 

We  had  been  in  the  camp  but  a  short  time 
when  word  came  from  Captain  Savage  that 
they  had  been  attacked  by  a  large  force  sev- 
eral miles  out  and  needed  assistance.  The 
cavalry  was  ordered  out  and  soon  the  camp 
was  in  commotion.  The  native  leaders  were 
called  and  asked  to  get  their  men  together,  but 
they  were  scattered  through  the  crowds  with 
their  families  and  there  was  little  response. 
Dr.  Shedd  talked  to  them  till  he  was  exhausted. 
There  were  less  than  two  hundred  men  in  the 
British  cavalry.  It  was  a  tragic  situation. 
The  great  unorganized  multitude  of  fugitives 
who  had  camped  all  about  in  orchards,  gardens 
and  houses,  and  spread  out  over  the  fields  and 
hillsides,  began  to  move  on  slowly  but  irre- 
sistibly. Some  of  the  men  were  sent  back  to 
fight,  many  of  the  refugees  were  killed,  and 
women  and  girls  taken  captive,  the  people  of 
Sain  Kala  and  towns  and  villages  in  the  rear 


268  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  ]VL\N 

joining  in  the  attack  against  them.  The  attack 
was  not  entirely  without  provocation,  for  the 
disorderly  element  among  the  fugitives  had 
plundered  shops  and  houses  and  in  other  ways 
aroused  the  enmity  of  the  villagers,  and  those 
who  followed  and  the  law-abiding  paid  the  pen- 
alty. The  Urumia  people  were  the  worst  suf- 
ferers. Captain  Savage's  small  band,  a  few 
miles  behind,  made  a  heroic  defense  against  sev- 
eral hundred  organized  troops,  and  with  their 
rapid-firing  guns  held  them  back  until  the  cav- 
alry arrived.  It  was  here  that  Captain  Nicols 
went  into  a  village  and  was  never  seen  again. 
A  year  later  I  was  in  that  region  and  made 
inquiries  in  several  villages,  thinking  that  I 
might  find  his  grave,  but  could  get  no  informa- 
tion. 

An  hour  or  two  after  our  arrival  in  the  Brit- 
ish camp,  Dr.  Shedd  complained  of  feeling  ill 
and  as  the  tent  was  very  hot,  1  made  a  place 
for  him  to  lie  down  in  the  cart,  which,  being 
open  at  both  ends,  was  cooler  than  the  tent. 
As  he  grew  worse,  the  baggage  was  taken  out 
and  we  made  him  as  comfortable  as  possible 
on  the  floor.  The  British  doctor  was  out  with 
the  cavalry,  but  Dr.  Jesse  Yonan  of  Urumia 
was  there,  and  fearing  cholera,  we  gave  him 
calomel.     Late  in  the  afternoon  the  British 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  269 

camp  was  moved  to  the  shelter  of  the  hills. 
We  started  out  while  it  was  still  light  that  he 
might  not  be  jolted  on  the  bad  roads,  expecting 
to  follow  the  camp  loads.  Dr.  Yonan  and 
other  Syrian  friends  came  along  with  us  on 
horseback.  Darkness  came  down  quickly;  my 
husband  needed  all  my  attention  and  I  did  not 
watch  the  road.  After  what  seemed  like  hours 
of  stumbling  along  in  the  dark,  we  found  our- 
selves in  a  gully.  We  had  passed  the  British 
camp;  the  roads  were  too  unsafe  and  rough 
to  return;  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  remain 
there  until  morning.  Only  a  few  drops  of  oil 
^ere  left  in  the  lantern.  I  lighted  it  and  saw 
that  my  husband  was  very  ill,  indeed.  Two 
of  the  men  went  back  over  the  dangerous  road 
for  the  doctor.  Hour  after  hour  I  crouched 
beside  my  husband  in  the  cart,  trying  to  ease 
the  pain  when  the  con\ailsions  came.  We  made 
coffee  at  the  blaze,  for  there  was  no  other  nour- 
ishment to  give.  As  he  grew  weaker  and 
weaker,  a  terrible  fear  tugged  at  my  heart, 
but  it  was  impossible  even  to  think  it.  He  had 
not  spoken  for  a  long  time,  but  when  the  doctor 
reached  us  about  midnight,  he  whispered 
faintly,  *'I  never  was  so  tired  in  all  my  life." 
After  a  hypodermic  injection,  he  did  not  regain 
consciousness.      The  doctor  returned  to  the 


270  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

camp,  telling  us  to  wait  for  him  in  the  morning. 

Fifty  thousand  terror-stricken  fugitives  had 
passed  on,  a  baby  wailed  all  night  nearby,  the 
desolate,  rocky  mountain  loomed  above  us, 
darkness  was  all  about  us,  and  it  seemed  that 
no  prayer  could  pierce  that  terrible  gloom. 
When  the  revealing  light  came,  I  could  see 
the  awful  change  in  his  face,  but  I  would  not 
beheve  that  he  was  leaving  me.  We  heard 
fighting  behind  and  knew  the  British  were 
attacked.  We  dared  not  wait,  so,  in  his  dying 
hour,  he  was  jolted  over  the  stony  trail. 

In  an  hour  or  two  Dr.  Featherstonhaugh 
and  Captain  Reed  caught  up  to  us.  The  doc- 
tor pronounced  the  disease  cholera.  A  few 
short,  sharp  breaths,  and  I  was  alone.  A  little 
farther  on,  with  a  small  adz  and  fingers,  they 
dug  a  shallow  grave,  and  with  the  canvas  from 
the  cart  for  a  shroud,  we  laid  him  there.  Dr. 
Yonan  read  the  burial  service  and  a  cross  was 
cut  on  the  rock  beside  the  grave.  It  seemed 
impossible  to  go  off  and  leave  him  there  in 
that  unfriendly  land,  but  there  could  be  no 
tarrying.  Leaving  the  carts  and  most  of  the 
stuff,  we  mounted  the  horses  and  followed  the 
fugitives. 

Disease  which  had  broken  out  among  the 
people   now   spread   rapidly   and   from    Sain 


THE  FINISHED  TASK  271 

Kala  to  Hamadan,  about  three  weeks'  journey 
for  most  through  scorching  heat,  hunger  and 
thirst,  the  roadsides  were  lined  with  the  dead 
and  the  dying  of  our  people.  Those  too  weak 
to  keep  up  were  killed  and  stripped  of  every- 
thing by  Persians  and  Kurds,  while  women  and 
girls  met  a  horrible  fate.  There  was  hardly 
a  family  without  losses.  The  little  British 
force  following  in  the  rear  did  everything  pos- 
sible to  protect  and  help  the  people.  Many  of 
them  walked  and  took  women  and  children  on 
their  horses.  But  the  horrors  of  those  days 
must  be  covered  with  a  veil  of  silence. 

The  news  of  Dr.  Shedd's  death  swept  along 
that  hne  of  suffering  humanity  like  a  wave  of 
black  despair.  Day  after  day  as  I  rode  along 
on  my  horse,  I  was  greeted  by  grief-stricken 
faces  and  the  despairing  cry,  "Wliat  shall  we 
do?  Our  father  is  gone,  our  back  is  broken; 
there  is  no  one  left  on  earth  to  help  us.  Would 
that  half  our  nation  had  died  and  he  had  lived !" 
And  as  they  mingled  their  tears  with  mine  and 
the  moan  of  my  own  heart  found  ten  thousand 
echoes  in  theirs,  I  became  one  of  them,  and  we 
all  knew  that  the  worst  had  come  to  us. 


CHAPTER  XVI:  THE  THINGS 
THAT  REMAIN 

By  the  kindness  of  British  officers,  I  reached 
Hamadan  and  missionary  friends  twenty-five 
days  after  leaving  Urumia.  Several  thousand 
of  the  people  found  their  way  into  the  city 
where  the  missionaries,  relief  workers  and 
British  were  able,  in  a  small  measure,  to  relieve 
their  suffering,  but  the  mass  of  them  were 
gathered  by  the  British  military  into  a  tempo- 
rary camp  a  few  miles  from  the  city  of  Hama- 
dan. Later,  in  order  to  make  it  possible  to 
feed  and  protect  them,  they  were  moved  three 
hundred  miles  farther  south  into  Mesopotamia, 
where  a  great  camp  was  established  at  Baqu- 
bah,  thirty  miles  north  of  Bagdad.  Fifty  thou- 
sand refugees  were  gathered  into  this  wonder- 
ful tent  city,  protected  and  rationed  by  the 
British.  Hospitals  were  opened  with  doctors 
and  nurses  from  India  and  England.  Despite 
the  fine  medical  care,  several  thousand  died 
of  exhaustion  and  of  disease  contracted  on  the 
journey. 

In  October  I  joined  a  group  of  American 
missionaries  and  other  relief  workers  in  the 

272 


THE  THINGS  THAT  REMAIN         273 

camp.  But  my  heart  was  back  among  the  hills 
of  Sain  Kala  and  I  knew  that  I  must  recover 
the  body  of  my  husband  and  make  him  a  safe 
grave  among  friends.  In  April  with  a  number 
of  missionaries  just  arrived  from  America,  I 
made  the  six  weeks'  journey  to  Tabriz,  hoping 
to  find  an  opportunity  to  go  to  Sain  Kala. 

After  our  flight  on  July  31,  1918,  several 
thousand  Christians  who  did  not  make  their 
escape  from  Urumia,  were  killed  by  Persians, 
Turks,  and  Kurds.  ]Monseigneur  Sonntag,  of 
the  French  Catholic  Mission,  was  murdered  by 
those  whom  for  months  he  had  protected  and 
sheltered,  and  of  the  six  hundred  who  had 
taken  refuge  with  him,  only  a  few  women 
escaped  to  tell  the  awful  story.  Of  some  two 
thousand  deported  to  S almas  by  the  Turks, 
but  three  or  four  hundred  lived  to  return  to 
Urumia.  Mr.  Herman  Pflaumer,  who  with 
his  wife  and  Miss  Bridges  stayed  at  the  Or- 
phanage with  the  children,  was  killed  that  first 
day  and  most  of  the  orphans  were  killed  or  scat- 
tered. The  missionaries  were  interned  at  the 
Hospital  Compound  by  the  Turks,  who  filled 
the  hospital  and  school  buildings  with  their 
own  sick,  with  the  result  that  nearly  all  the 
missionaries  sickened  of  the  fever  brought  in. 
Miss  Lenore  R.  Schoebel  laid  down  her  life 


274  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

there,  September  28,  dying  of  pernicious 
malaria,  the  sixth  war  victim  from  om*  mis- 
sionary group  in  Urumia.  Scores  of  native 
Christians  who  had  taken  refuge  with  the  mis- 
sionaries also  died  there. 

October  8,  the  missionaries  were  deported 
to  Tabriz  by  the  Turks  and  after  being  held 
for  a  week,  they  were  dismissed,  no  charge 
being  made  against  them.  At  the  same  time 
Dr.  W.  S.  Vanneman  and  Rev.  Frederick  N. 
Jessup,  of  our  Mission  in  Tabriz,  were  re- 
leased, they  having  been  held  prisoners  by  the 
Turks  forty-four  days. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Turks,  the  eight 
hundred  Christians  left  in  Urumia  were  gath- 
ered into  our  City  Compound  by  one  of  their 
own  number,  Mrs.  Judith  David,  who  fed  and 
cared  for  them  with  Relief  funds  sent  from 
Tabriz. 

Thinking  the  dangers  past,  Dr.  Packard  and 
his  family  returned  to  Urumia  in  May  and 
the  rest  of  the  Urumia  missionaries  then  in 
Tabriz  w^ere  preparing  to  do  so,  when  the  final 
blow  came.  Persians  and  Kurds  were  fighting 
in  Urumia.  On  May  24,  after  driving  the 
Kurds  from  the  city,  the  Persians  entered  the 
American  Mission  Compound  and  fell  upon 
the  Christians  who  for  eight  months  had  prac- 


THE  THINGS  THAT  REMAIN         275 

tically  been  their  prisoners.  About  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  were  killed,  a  hundred  more 
wounded,  and  scores  most  brutally  treated. 
The  American  flag  was  torn  down  and 
trampled  in  the  dust.  Six  hundred,  with  Dr. 
Packard  and  his  family  found  refuge  at  the 
Government  house  where  they  lived  in  con- 
stant danger  for  three  weeks.  Everything 
portable  that  had  been  left  by  the  Turks,  in- 
cluding doors  and  windows,  was  carried  off 
from  the  Mission  compounds  or  destroyed. 

Then  came  the  thrilling  rescue  by  our  Amer- 
ican Consul,  Mr.  Gordon  Paddock.  Accom- 
panied by  Rev.  H.  A.  Muller  and  Dr.  E.  M. 
Dodd  of  om^  Mission,  a  British  chauffeur  and 
a  friendly  Persian  official,  he  went  to  Urumia 
with  two  Ford  cars  which  did  not  stop  for 
punctures  or  blowouts.  When  tires  could  no 
longer  hold  air,  they  were  stuffed  with  hay. 
After  parleying  with  Simku  in  S almas  for 
several  days,  he  gave  them  an  escort  of  a  hun- 
dred warriors  to  Urumia.  There  by  daring, 
bluff,  and  diplomacy,  they  took  out  the  six 
hundred  and  the  Packard  family,  through 
streets  lined  with  hostile  Persians  threatening 
them  at  every  step.  Crossing  the  Lake  by 
boat  and  raft,  they  were  brought  to  Tabriz  by 
rail.     Here  they  were  received  and  cared  for 


2T6  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

by  the  Americans  with  Near  East  Relief  funds. 
Following  this  was  a  massacre  by  Tartars  of 
several  thousand  Armenians  just  across  the 
Persian  border  in  southern  Russia.  Eight 
hundred  or  a  thousand  escaped  into  Persia  and 
were  brought  to  Tabriz  and  taken  under  the 
care  of  the  Relief  Committee.  There  were 
serious  threatenings  of  trouble  in  Tabriz  for 
a  while  so  that  it  was  not  until  September  that 
the  journey  to  Sain  Kala  was  attempted. 

Accompanied  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Crothers  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission,  and  Dr.  Joel  Joseph, 
a  Syrian  physician  of  Maragha,  we  reached 
the  village  of  Sain  Kala  in  five  days  from 
Tabriz,  traveling  with  a  carriage  and  an  open 
wagon.  The  next  morning  with  guards  from 
the  Governor,  we  started  out  over  the  road  of 
flight  through  the  hills.  This  was  a  critical 
time  and  I  knew  that  others  were  doubtful  of 
my  finding  the  burial  place  in  that  unfamiliar 
wilderness.  We  went  on  till  noon,  then  the 
Moslem  drivers  refused  to  go  farther,  for  there 
was  no  wagon  road.  They  were  finally  per- 
suaded and  we  pushed  on  till  three  in  the  after- 
noon before  I  could  find  any  sign  that  would 
enable  me  to  trace  the  journey  of  the  year 
before.  When  we  came  to  a  stream  overshad- 
owed by  the  great  rocky  side  of  a  hill,  I  remem- 


THE  THINGS  THAT  REMAIN         277 

bered  that  I  had  been  alone  at  that  place.  We 
turned  back  and  at  sunset  found  the  grave 
which  we  had  passed  in  the  morning. 

All  that  year  of  aching  silence  dropped 
away  as  I  hurried  up  the  bank  to  the  cross- 
hewn  rock  and  stood  beside  the  grave.  It  was 
empty!  Absolutely  empty!  Wild  beasts  had 
done  their  worst!  In  my  anguish  I  heard  a 
voice  saying,  ''Why  do  you  look  among  the 
dead  for  him  who  is  alive?" 

We  placed  the  relics  of  his  mortality  in  the 
casket  we  had  brought  and  in  the  darkness 
turned  toward  Tabriz.  At  the  stopping  places 
along  the  way,  we  were  hospitably  received 
in  Persian  houses.  At  Maragha  the  priest  of 
the  Old  Armenian  Church  called  with  his 
elders  and  members  and  asked  to  have  a  public 
service.  They  covered  the  casket  with  flowers 
and  forming  a  procession,  we  went  to  the 
church.  In  his  sermon  the  old  priest  claimed 
him  a  sacrifice  for  his  people  as  well  as  for 
the  Syrians,  and  as  I  watched  the  swinging 
censer,  the  burning  candles,  and  the  ritual  so 
different  from  our  Protestant  service,  I  under- 
stood that  it  is  in  sacrificial  love  that  we  find 
our  Christian  unity. 

We  made  his  grave  in  the  Christian  ceme- 
tery in  Tabriz,  where  the  dust  of  many  races 


278  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

mingles.  At  the  public  service  in  the  cemetery, 
more  than  two  thousand  came  to  pay  their 
tribute  of  affection,  many  of  them  homeless 
wanderers  whose  loved  ones  had  been  left 
along  the  mountain  trails  of  Turkey,  and  scat- 
tered through  the  plains  and  highlands  of 
Persia,  for  a  thousand  miles,  down  into  the 
deserts  and  valleys  of  Mesopotamia,  a  witness 
to  their  faith  and  to  the  cruel  hate  of  Islam. 

Dr.  Iskander  Ivhan,  a  Syrian  friend,  who 
spoke  that  day  of  "Dr.  Shedd,  the  Man," 
speaks  for  his  people  when  he  calls  him,  "The 
man  of  brains  and  resource,  gentle  but  decided 
on  occasion;  the  friend  of  justice  and  helper 
of  the  oppressed ;  a  real  democrat,  courageous, 
and  keen  against  sin  but  the  friend  of  sinners ; 
a  good  companion,  genial  and  tactful;  strong 
in  friendship  and  promises;  influential,  having 
confidence  in  others;  a  man  of  peace  and  hope, 
a  man  of  patience  and  faith.  O  God,  increase 
men  like  him !" 

y^  7^  y^  ^  ^  y^  y^ 

Tradition  says  that  Christianity  was  brought 
to  Urumia  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  by  St. 
Thomas,  who  walked  across  the  Lake,  and  the 
event  has  been  celebrated  each  year  by  the 
Christians  there.  Certain  it  is  that  for  many 
centuries    Nestorian,    or    Syrian    Christians, 


THE  THINGS  THAT  REMAIN         279 

have  lived  on  the  Urumia  plain  as  Persian  sub- 
jects. They  have  acquired  houses,  vineyards, 
and  fields.  Here  their  people  have  hved  and 
died  for  twenty  generations.  Their  affections 
center  in  this  one  place,  they  know  no  other 
home. 

The  Syrian  mountain  tribes,  who  were  sub- 
jects of  the  Sultan,  love  with  passionate  loyalty 
their  rugged  hills  and  steep  valleys,  yet  these 
Syrian  people,  like  the  Armenians,  are  kept 
in  exile  several  years  after  the  Great  War 
fought  for  "humanity  and  the  rights  of  small 
nations."  Their  homes  and  possessions  are  in 
the  hands  of  their  Mohammedan  neighbors, 
while  they,  but  a  small  remnant  of  their  peo- 
ple, wander  as  beggars  through  Persia  and 
Mesopotamia,  the  victims  of  Persians,  Turks, 
Kurds,  and  Arabs. 

In  Urumia  the  missions,  churches,  schools, 
and  homes  of  the  Christians,  are  a  desolation, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  six  or  seven  centuries, 
Christianity  has  apparently  been  exterminated. 
"And  Urmi  knows  the  Christ  no  more." 

Is  this  the  end?  A  thousand  years  of  mis- 
sionary life  have  been  given  to  the  peoples 
over  there.  For  eighty  years  Christ  has 
been  preached  and  the  principles  of  His 
Gospel  have  been  taught  through  word  and 


280  THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN 

deed  by  missionaries  sent  from  our  own 
land,  while  thousands  of  His  followers 
there  through  the  years  have  witnessed  by  life 
and  by  death  to  the  faith  that  was  in  them. 
The  sowing  has  been  in  tears,  the  harvest  must 
come  with  rejoicing.  God  has  not  left  Him- 
self without  witness  there. 

In  the  words  of  William  A.  Shedd  written 
in  1916,  "It  lies  with  us  to  see  that  the  blood 
shed  and  the  suffering  endured  are  not  in  vain. 
May  God  grant  and  may  we  who  know  so  well 
the  wi^ongs  that  have  been  borne,  so  labor  that 
the  cause  of  these  wrongs  be  removed.  That 
will  be  done  when  Christ  rules  in  the  hearts 
of  those  who  profess  His  name  and  is  acknowl- 
edged by  all,  not  merely  as  a  great  prophet  but 
as  the  Saviour  for  Whose  coming  prophecy 
prepared  the  way,  Who  is  the  fulfillment  of 
revelation,  and  in  Whom  human  destiny  will 
find  its  goal." 


THE  END 


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